http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15581204/?GT1=8717
Dolphin reveals an extra set of ‘legs’
Scientists say fins may represent throwback to ancient land-dwelling
ways
By Hiroko Tabuchi
Updated: 11:36 p.m. ET Nov. 5, 2006
TOKYO -{AP} Japanese researchers said Sunday that a bottlenose dolphin
captured last month has an extra set of fins that could be the remains
of hind legs, a discovery that may provide further evidence that
ocean-dwelling mammals once lived on land.
Fishermen captured the four-finned dolphin alive off the coast of
Wakayama prefecture in western Japan on Oct. 28, and alerted the nearby
Taiji Whaling Museum, according to museum director Katsuki Hayashi.
Fossil remains show dolphins and whales were four-footed land animals
about 50 million years ago and share the same common ancestor as hippos
and deer. Scientists believe they later transitioned to an aquatic
lifestyle and their hind limbs disappeared.
Whale and dolphin fetuses also show signs of hind protrusions but these
generally disappear before birth.
Though odd-shaped protrusions have been found near the tails of dolphins
and whales captured in the past, researchers say this was the first time
one had been found with well-developed, symmetrical fins, Hayashi said.
"I believe the fins may be remains from the time when dolphins' ancient
ancestors lived on land ... this is an unprecedented discovery," Seiji
Osumi, an adviser at Tokyo's Institute of Cetacean Research, said at a
news conference televised Sunday.
Image: Dolphin "legs"
AP
This photo, released by the Taiji Whale Museum, highlights the extra set
of fins. The tail is being held by a diver whose hand is visible at
upper right.
The second set of fins — much smaller than the dolphin's front fins —
are about the size of human hands and protrude from near the tail on the
dolphin's underside. The dolphin measures 8.92 feet (2.7 meters) and is
about five years old, according to the museum.
Hayashi said he could not tell from watching the dolphin swim in a
musuem tank whether it used its back fins to maneuver.
A freak mutation may have caused the ancient trait to reassert itself,
Osumi said. The dolphin will be kept at the Taiji museum to undergo
X-ray and DNA tests, according to Hayashi.
/end
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Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
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