Ancient whale tells tale of when baleen whales had teeth
36-million-year-old fossil belonged to oldest discovered member of group that includes humpbacks
![Mystacodon skull](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/051117_LH_ancient-whale_main.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
WHALE IN TRANSITION The skull of Mystacodon, a 36-million-year-old whale found in Peru, is an early relative of today’s baleen whales. Its skull (shown here) has a flattened snout and a mouth full of teeth, which baleen whales later lost.
O. Lambert et al/Current Biology 2017