Strong evidence for the close relationships of hippos and whales

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Boisserie et al. (2005) showed the anthracotheres to be ancestral to hippos, proving once and for all that whales and hippos are related to each other. This paper shows that anthracotheres are the missing link between whales and hippos. It also shows that whales and hippos diverged 60 million years ago from a common ancestor, probably amphibious. Thus, the cetaceans and hippos form the clade Cetancodonta.

Boissere, J.-R., F. Lihoreau, and M. Brunet. 2005. The position of Hippopotamidae within Cetartiodactyla. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102:1537-1541.

Where do the mesonychids fit into this?--Mr Fink 19:31, 27 November 2006 (UTC)Reply