As a follow up on Cara's earlier post on our desert expedition, I'd like to talk a bit more about the nitty-gritty of the science!

Whales don't walk, silly!

Wadi al-Hitan (Valley of the Whales) is one of the major paleontological sites in the world for understanding the evolution of whales & their migration 40 million years ago from land into the ocean.

But Justin, I thought that life started in the oceans, then moved to land... why would whales go backward?

Well, yeah, life did start in the oceans, but mammals evolved on land, breathing air. First little rat-like things while the dinosaurs were around, which later evolved into the diversity of mammals we know today (and the ones that we knew earlier in the 20th century that are now extinct). But then there are all of the ocean mammals... whales, dolphins, manatees, seals... they must have evolved from land-based mammals.

Whales don't walk, silly! How could they do that with fins? -Lara