It was kind of a dick move to create animals that require air, then confine them to the freaking ocean
If you are talking about dolphins they used to be wolf like creatures that due to scarcity of food they had to hunt in water so they slowly evolved into water mammals, dolphins still have claw bones but they are unnecessary and dolphins will get rid of them with time and will develop abilities to breath under water
(This also partially applies to whales)
They were what now?
Mother Nature, come out here I just want to talk
Whales are actually Ungulates, more so hippos, entelodons, etc…
Meaning they were somewhat related to big celebrities such as Daedon (the “hell pig”) and Andrewsarchus.
The appearence of the first ancestors of whales probably looked like a small hoofed thing called Indohyus.
(Illustration by julio lacerda)
(illustration by Tiffany Turill)
Basically they went from tiny hoofed herbivore to bigger hoofed carnivore to crocodile-like thing to seal-like things to big sea predators.
It’s important to mention that we now know dolphins will probably never need to develop true water breathing, because the fact that they breathe air from the surface is actually an ADVANTAGE for them. They get more oxygen at once than an animal with gills and it permits a much higher, more energized activity level for longer periods of time.
They are murderous monsters empowered by their access to the forbidden air
I can’t remember if it was Daeodon specifically, but wasn’t there some paleontology news that some kind of entelodont was less “hell pig” and more “fully terrestrial hell hippo”? Because I think that’d be much, much scarier to encounter.
The very concept of a middle ground between “wild boar” and “hippo” fills me with fear
Project I’ve been tinkering with – dolphins in “land suits” that decide to explore the human world. There’s a whole story that goes with this…I’ll post more later…it should be really fun when it’s done! :D
Thevaquita has the most restricted range of any marine cetacean, as they are endemic to the northern end of the Gulf of California. They have evolved to live in shallow, murky water, sometimes so shallow that their backs protrude from the water. Unlike many other marine animals, they can also cope with the rapid and extreme temperature changes that can occur in shallow water.
Because of the vaquita’s low numbers, the National Marine Mammal Foundation attempted to start a captive breeding program. However, after a female vaquita died of stress shortly after being captured, the program was abandoned. It is unlikely a similar program will be attempted in the future.
Thevaquita is Mexico’s only endemic marine mammal. The name vaquita is Spanish for “little cow”, and other names for the species include cochito (Spanish for “little pig”), desert porpoise, vaquita porpoise, Gulf of California harbor porpoise, Gulf of California porpoise, and gulf porpoise.
Thevaquita is the world’s smallest cetacean, growing only about 141 centimetres in length. They are also the most endangered cetacean on the planet, with some marine biologists believing there are as few as 12 individuals left alive.
