DATELINE: 23rd October 2001

HIPPOS AND WHALES
Recent prehistoric animals remains found in Pakistan have backed a long-held theory that whales might share their ancestry with animals including hippos.
The remains, found by a joint American and Pakistani archeological team, are of an animal that lived more than 45 million years ago. The finds included a whale-like skull and leg bones with ankles that clearly belong to a terrestrial creature.
The scientists think the animal was one that lived in and out of water, like sea lions today; and that, while some of the creatures went on to evolve as land animals, such as hippos, others went the other route - to become whales.
It is reported that, in the 1950s, research into the immune systems of whales and other animals suggested that whales and hippos might be related.
At the time, the idea was regarded as highly controversial - but the latest find suggests that the scientists of half a century ago might not have been too wide of the mark.

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