Paleo-Breakthrough (Seal Evolution) from an Arctic Fossil—Subtitled

A "missing link" fossil of a new mammal species from Canada's High Arctic rewrites the evolutionary story of seals. This prehistoric carnivore represents a new branch on a family tree, between an ancestor that walked on land and today's sea-going seals and their relatives. It provides insight into what pinnipeds (true seals, sea lions and the walrus) looked like before they were adapted to hunting in the ocean. It also suggests a different centre of pinniped evolution from that of the prevailing theory. The fossil is 24 to 20 million years old and was found in the Haughton Crater on Devon Island. The research team is led by Dr. Natalia Rybczynski of the Canadian Museum of Nature.

More information: http://nature.ca/newspecies

Version without subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hT8DtfriYU

French version with subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9Bca7lpmZY

http://nature.ca — Canadian Museum of Nature

Category:

Education

Tags:

• fossils
• Arctic
• evolution
• paleontology
• palaeontology
• Haughton Crater
• missing link
• natural history
• Miocene Epoch
• Natalia Rybczynski
• Puijila darwini
• seals
• pinnipeds
• subtitles
• subtitled