“Smithsonian Scientists Reconstruct Evolutionary History of Whale Hearing Using Rare Museum Collection.” The scientists know that hearing and echolocation in whales is very complex. “Whale ears are incredibly complex organs,” said Maya Yamato, the lead author of the study. “Although scientists know that hearing is one of the most important senses that whales use to communicate, navigate and search for food in their underwater world, we are still searching for clues about how their ears actually work.”
Evidence, please: “The researchers used noninvasive biomedical imaging techniques to trace the development of fetal ear bones in 56 specimens from 10 different families of toothed and baleen whales. They observed how ears develop in unborn whales of modern species, and compared these changes with those reflected in the fossilized ears of extinct whales over the course of millions of
years. Their findings confirmed that changes in the development of ear bones in the womb paralleled changes observed throughout whale evolution, providing new insight about how whales successfully made the dramatic evolutionary shift from land to sea and adapted to hearing underwater. As whale ears continue to mature in the womb, these basic mammalian structures rearrange to form the ‘acoustic funnel,’ which may play a critical role in underwater hearing. The position of the acoustic funnel also seems to be significant—some baleen whales have a funnel that faces sideways, while all toothed whales have cones that are oriented towards their snouts. These positions correspond with previously described sound reception pathways in each group.”
And God created great whales,
Genesis 1:21
Evidence, please: “The researchers used noninvasive biomedical imaging techniques to trace the development of fetal ear bones in 56 specimens from 10 different families of toothed and baleen whales. They observed how ears develop in unborn whales of modern species, and compared these changes with those reflected in the fossilized ears of extinct whales over the course of millions of
Teacher comments: No evolutionary evidence of the neo-Darwinian kind was found, despite the headline’s boastful claim to “reconstruct evolutionary history of whale hearing”. The structures developed in extinct whales the same way they do in modern whales. The article contains this promissory note: “Yamato and Pyenson’s nondestructive approach to exploring whale ears could facilitate additional studies on the same specimens and potentially act as a springboard for learning more about the evolution of other senses in whales.” Sorry, but promissory notes don’t count toward the grade. Gotta cash out the claim with evidence. Despite the busy work with CT scans, it didn’t help Darwin’s score. Grade: F.
More examples could be provided, but the material would get tediously repetitive." CEHAnd God created great whales,
Genesis 1:21
