Skip to content
All news
  • All news
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Corporates
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
  • Stranding
  • Whale watching
Bottlenose dolphins breaching

Landmark report reveals UK wildlife’s devastating decline

With whales and dolphins already facing many threats, a landmark report released this week reveals...
Dolphins with oil rig

Go ahead for new UK oil and gas exploration threatens whales and dolphins

Permission has been granted for the development of the UK's biggest untapped oilfield off Shetland,...
Icelandic hunting vessels in port

Whaling boat kept in port after more hunt cruelty exposed

Icelandic whale hunting fleet One of the whaling boats involved in the latest hunts in...
Commerson's dolphin

New Important Marine Mammal Areas added to global ocean conservation list

Commerson's dolphin Experts from a number of countries have mapped out a new set of...

Early whales hearing similar to land animals

Whales and dolphins are renowned for their sensitive hearing but new research published in Current Biology suggests this was not always the case.

Using a CT scanner, scientists examined the fossils of two whales discovered during the last century in Togo, Africa. The whales were around 43-46 million years old, and while they lived in the sea, they still had legs which allowed them access to the land. Even though they would have been feeding on fish, they had not yet developed the ability to echolocate, used by modern-day toothed whales and dolphins.

Examination of their inner ears indicates these early whales could not yet pick up the extremes of high or low frequency sounds their descendants can. The separation into toothed and baleen whales occured around 35 million years ago and while it seems likely their specialised hearing evolved after this, the scientists have not ruled the possibility of discovering a common ancestor with highly developed hearing.

M. Mourlam and M. Orliac. Infrasonic and Ultrasonic Hearing Evolved after the Emergence of Modern Whales. Current Biology. Published online June 8, 2017. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.04.061.

About George Berry

George is a member of WDC's Communications team and website coordinator.