An extraordinary evolutionary history
Cetaceans have one of the most incredible evolutionary histories known to date1 .
Cetaceans are marine placental mammals, now perfectly adapted to life in the ocean (see also article on hydration of cetaceans in seawater). This group includes a large number of species, including whales, dolphins, orcas, belugas, sperm whales, etc. They are ungulates belonging to the order artiodactyls. These mammals distribute their weight evenly over two (or an even number) of their five fingers/toes, with the other fingers/toes either present, vestigial or absent. This group is in contrast to perissodactyls, which distribute their weight on a single (or odd number of) fingers/toes. This means that they belong to the same large family as cows, camels, giraffes and even hippopotamuses! It also means that all these different animals have at least one common ancestor2–4 .
Cetaceans have had a unique evolutionary history: their distant ancestors were small land animals that gradually evolved, adapting to a new, exclusively aquatic environment3–5 . The earliest ancestor groups of cetaceans are called archaeocetes. The first archaeocetes, the pakicetes, were adapted to move and feed both in water and on land4,6,7 . Before becoming exclusively marine animals, archaeocetes inhabited shallow waters, probably returning to land to reproduce5 . This transition from the terrestrial environment to the ocean took place during the Eocene, between 55 and 37 million years ago, and is well documented in the fossil record. This is one of the most rapid evolutions known to date, with a complete transition from a terrestrial to a marine environment in just 8 to 12 million years8,9 . The discovery of valuable fossils, including a pregnant female and her nearly full-term foetus dating from the middle Eocene (between 49 and 37 million years ago), has even allowed us to learn about the ecology of the earliest cetaceans10 . We now know that they gave birth head first, a typical birth pattern for land mammals, but different from modern whales, whose calves are born tail first. The calf was already well developed at birth, an essential factor for the survival of a newborn at the interface between land and sea10 .
Fossil records from the last 40 million years, after cetaceans became exclusively aquatic creatures and after the extinction of the first whales, show us some fascinating adaptations. These adaptations include extreme gigantism, echolocation, the appearance of baleen plates for feeding by filtering water, and even the recolonisation of certain freshwater environments11 .
Bone structure and physiology: changes on all levels
Mitogenomic studies have revealed an explosive evolutionary radiation between 30 and 35 million years ago12. This led to major morphological changes in the skeleton13. For example, the structure of the skull14,15, the spine and pelvis2,4–6,10,16–23, and the structure of the limbs20,24 changed significantly. The bone structure itself also changed, adapting to life in the open sea and enabling them, among other things, to dive to great depths²⁵⁻²⁷. Moreover, if we look at the bone structures inside the fins of cetaceans (i.e. their front limbs), we find a structure similar to that of their distant terrestrial cousins10,20,24. Some fossils, such as that of Ambulocetus, show good adaptation to both terrestrial and aquatic environments24 .
The change in environment has also caused changes in the physiology of these animals, enabling them to live in an exclusively marine environment. This includes, among other things, changes in the structure of their myoglobin to enable them to dive to great depths28, changes in lipid assimilation29, hormonal and renal changes (e.g. article hydration of cetaceans in seawater), loss of taste, and changes in the structure of their skin31.
Some studies also highlight a parallel between the evolutionary history of cetaceans and that of other lineages of terrestrial tetrapods that returned to life in ocean ecosystems since the end of the Permian period more than 250 million years ago. These lineages (e.g. ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, penguins and sea turtles) have similar morphologies and evolutionary convergences, such as forelimbs that have become flippers32.
Figure 1. Representation of three ancestors of cetaceans: Pakicetus (a), Ambulocetus (b) and Dorudon (c), an odontocete: the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) (d) and a mysticete: the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) (e). Please note that regarding the fossil groups, these are graphical representations based on interpretations of what these organisms may have looked like. These illustrations take into account what is currently known about these organisms, but this may change in the future.
Towards two large groups: Mysticeti and Odontoceti, two ecological niches, two ways of feeding.
The skull of cetaceans is one of the parts of their body that has undergone the most significant and rapid evolutionary adaptation33. The nostrils have migrated from the tip of the snout to the top of the skull to become blowholes, a major adaptation to facilitate breathing at sea. Two key innovations also appeared during their evolution: the presence of baleen and echolocation, adaptations that also involved changes in skull morphology34,35. Cetaceans are today divided into two large groups: Mysticetes (baleen whales) and Odontocetes (toothed whales), which diverged around 30 million years ago12,36,37.
In addition to their teeth, odontocetes also have the ability to echolocate38. This evolutionary adaptation is thought to have appeared very early on after the two groups of cetaceans separated: during the Oligocene, approximately 28 million years ago39,40. Even the oldest odontocetes taxa have a skull morphology compatible with the emission of high-frequency sound signals and the ability to hear them. They were therefore capable of echolocation and already possessed a functional sonar system40,41. Most odontocetes also have the ability to dive to great depths, where their sonar allows them to navigate and hunt effectively37. Noise pollution caused by human activities may also affect this second group's use of their bio-sonar42.
Baleens are long keratin structures attached to the palate, which Mysticetes whales use to feed by filtering large quantities of water43. This morphological trait appears to have emerged in three major phases linked to significant changes in the global climate: the first between 39 and 28 million years ago, the second around 23 million years ago, and the third around 3 million years ago44. We now know that the ancestors of baleen whales had teeth and that the transition from teeth to baleen represents a major change in the morphology and ecology of these cetaceans36. This transition was accompanied by significant changes in cranial ontogenesis (development of the foetal skull in-utero) and did not occur all at once45,46. Indeed, it has been shown that baleen whales develop teeth on their upper and lower jaws during their growth in-utero and that these teeth never emerge, being completely reabsorbed by the body before the calf is born36,45,47–49. The disappearance of small Mysticetes (and the favouring of large ones) can be explained by the need to migrate between the poles to feed and the equator to reproduce. This hypothesis is supported by evidence of migration among Mysticetes since at least the end of the Pliocene44,50. Mysticetes may even have used the Mediterranean as a breeding zone in old times50 !
Some cetaceans also feed using a suction mechanism. This is quite common among Odontocetes and known to occur in one species of Mysticete: the grey whale. This behaviour appears to be associated with a particular skull structure, which has also been found in some fossil species51.
Figure 2. Simplified phylogeny and relationships between different groups in the evolutionary lineage of cetaceans (after Goldbogen et al., 2023).
Body and brain size: gigantism is the key word
Phylogenetic studies have shown that the different evolutionary lines of neocetes (the first fully aquatic cetaceans) very early on spread out into different ecological niches depending on their size, and that changes in cetacean size are closely linked to their feeding strategy52 .
Cetaceans are among the largest and heaviest mammals that have ever lived on Earth. Recent studies show that their gigantic size can be explained by the selection of certain specific genes linked to increased body size but also involved in the management of growth hormone and a hormone similar to insulin (involved in the body's storage of energy in the form of fat)53,54. These genes were selected differently between small and large cetaceans54. In addition, cetacean-specific amino acid changes may also have played a key role in the evolution of their body size after the divergence between cetaceans and their terrestrial cousins54. Other marine mammals such as pinnipeds (i.e. the large order of seals and sea lions) show similar trends towards gigantism32,55.
But why were these genes favoured?
Being large and, more importantly, covered in fat, is a significant advantage when it comes to living in icy waters for much of the year, as well as building up reserves for long migrations. The body loses a considerable amount of heat when submerged. Beyond the sometimes extreme temperatures, water cools the body much faster than air. With aquatic life comes a new challenge: conserving energy.
Physiologically, the smaller the organism and the greater its surface area (skin) in contact with its environment, the more energy it requires and therefore the higher its metabolism must be to compensate for heat loss. Even though large whales need more energy (= food) than smaller whales in absolute terms, they need less food in proportion to their mass thanks to a slower metabolism. Being large, round and fat is therefore an evolutionary advantage37. Furthermore, thanks to the density of seawater, the constraints on the body due to gravity are reduced. Under these conditions, weighing several tonnes becomes possible.
Cetaceans also have large brains relative to their overall size: they have a high encephalization quotient. Researchers have studied the evolution of cetacean size and brain size over time and have found significant differences in encephalization quotient between the two existing suborders, Mysticeti and Odontoceti. According to their findings, the mass of cetaceans and their brains has increased significantly during their evolution, but the encephalisation quotient has tended to decrease. Mysticeti appear to have lower encephalisation quotients than Odontoceti due to a change in the ratio of brain mass to body mass over time. This change is explained by a rapid increase in body mass in Mysticeti, while Odontoceti appear to have undergone a period of reduction in body mass41.
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