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The ancestors of today's largest whales were gruesome carnivores that sucked giant fish and squid into tooth-filled jaws. Now, thanks to the analysis of the ancient jawbone of a sharp-toothed, dolphinlike creature, researchers think they know how such a terrifying animal gave rise to its docile, filter-feeding kin.
Modern-day baleen whales are among the largest creatures that have ever lived. At 30 meters in length, an adult blue whale weighs about 180 metric tons—almost twice the heft of the largest dinosaur known—and consumes about 3.6 metric tons of food each day. Baleen whales get their name from the frayed slabs of fingernail-like material they use to strain tiny crustaceans and small fish from mouthfuls of seawater
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/08/how-baleen-whales-got-their-big-.html?rss=1
Modern-day baleen whales are among the largest creatures that have ever lived. At 30 meters in length, an adult blue whale weighs about 180 metric tons—almost twice the heft of the largest dinosaur known—and consumes about 3.6 metric tons of food each day. Baleen whales get their name from the frayed slabs of fingernail-like material they use to strain tiny crustaceans and small fish from mouthfuls of seawater
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/08/how-baleen-whales-got-their-big-.html?rss=1
