The Tale of a Whale: An Ideal Case Study for Introducing the Evidence for Evolution

An exploration of the evolutionary history of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) is an ideal case study for presenting the evidence for evolution in a way that is both concise and compelling. Evidence for cetaceans’ terrestrial ancestry comes from a wide variety of fields (e.g., paleontology, comparative anatomy, developmental biology, genetics, biogeography) and demonstrates the breadth and depth of the evidence for their evolution from terrestrial ancestors.