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Transitional form in seal family tree found From today's Toronto Star:
ArticleScientists find 'missing link' in seal evolution
Apr 22, 2009 01:09 PM
Steve Rennie
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA – Fossil hunters have found the remains of the earliest ancestor of seals, sea lions and walruses in Canada's High Arctic.
The discovery sheds new light on the evolution of a group of animals called pinnipeds, from land-bound mammals to aquatic creatures of today.
"What it's showing us is the early transitional stage in the evolution of pinnipeds," said Natalia Rybczynski, a paleontologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
"The puzzle has always been, how did they evolve from a terrestrial form? Our animal fills that gap between the terrestrial ancestor and the marine forms that we see today."
Scientists dubbed the creature Puijila darwini. "Puijila" means young sea mammal in Inuktitut. The second part of the name is a nod to Charles Darwin, who predicted this type of transitional creature 150 years ago in his seminal work, On the Origin of Species.
It measured about a metre long and probably looked something like an otter. It had a long, thin tail, webbed feet, powerful shoulders, big eyes and a strong jaw lined with large, canine teeth.
Duck and rodent fossils found in the animal's gut suggest it likely hunted on both land and in the water.
Very cool. Exactly what's predicted by evolution: a transitional form between fully terrestrial land mammals and fully aquatic seals, sea lions and walruses. And it's going to be on display at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.
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Originally Posted by Christian Soldier 
