Bat and dolphin embryo illustrate the process of forelimb enlargement (IMAGE)

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Bat and dolphin embryo illustrate the process of forelimb enlargement

Caption

Figure 3 -- A bat and dolphin embryo illustrate the process of forelimb enlargement and hind limb reduction, respectively, in the orders Chiroptera and Cetacea. The fossil record shows that Eocene whales (Ambulocetus natans) still had hind limbs, but the earliest known bats looked much like modern Carollia perspicilata.

Credit

T. Hieronymus, K. Sears

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