New whale ear study suffers from taxon inclusion/exclusion issues
Peacock et al 2025 looked at echo-locating odontocetes
without including extant tenrecs (which do the same and are basal to odontocetes in the large reptile tree LRT, 2338 taxa). The authors included Indohyus, which also nests with tenrecs (Fig 1) in the LRT.
The authors mistakenly included mysticetes, (Fig 2) which do not echo-locate and are not related in the LRT.
Figure 1. Odontocete ancestors include Pakicetus, Tenrec, Rhynchocyon and related taxa in the LRT.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/tenrec_pakicetus_skeleton588.jpg?w=92″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/tenrec_pakicetus_skeleton588.jpg?w=313″ class=”size-full wp-image-64110″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/tenrec_pakicetus_skeleton588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Odontocete ancestors include Pakicetus, Tenrec, Rhynchocyon and related taxa in the LRT. ” width=”584″ height=”1910″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/tenrec_pakicetus_skeleton588.jpg?w=584&h=1910 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/tenrec_pakicetus_skeleton588.jpg?w=46&h=150 46w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/tenrec_pakicetus_skeleton588.jpg?w=92&h=300 92w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/tenrec_pakicetus_skeleton588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Odontocete ancestors include Pakicetus, Tenrec, Rhynchocyon and related taxa in the LRT.
From the abstract:
“Toothed whales (odontocetes) make use of high-frequency sounds to echolocate, differing significantly from their sister group baleen whales (mysticetes), which make use of low frequency sound for long-distance communication.”
Hippos also communicate using low frequency sound for long-distance communication, discussed and linked earlier here.
“We use these data to test the hypotheses that evolutionary brain size increases in cetaceans were related to the origin of high-frequency echolocation. We show that no shift in relative brain size coincides with any changes toward high-frequency perception.”
The traditional clade ‘Cetacea’ was invalidated by the LRT here.
“Even ancient cetaceans may have possessed the capacity for complex vocalizations and communication, as well as basic echolocation.”
That’s because their Tenrec ancestors also had this trait.
Figure 1. Taxa in the lineage of right whales include Desmostylus, Caperea and Eubalaena. The tiny bit of jugal posterior to the orbit (in cyan) is found in all baleen whales tested so far. The frontals over the eyes are just roofing the eyeballs in Desmostylus, much wider in Caperea and much, much longer in Eubalaena.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/desmostylus_caperea_-eubalaena5882.jpg?w=228″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/desmostylus_caperea_-eubalaena5882.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-29570″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/desmostylus_caperea_-eubalaena5882.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Taxa in the lineage of right whales include Desmostylus, Caperea and Eubalaena. The tiny bit of jugal posterior to the orbit (in cyan) is found in all baleen whales tested so far. The frontals over the eyes are just roofing the eyeballs in Desmostylus, much wider in Caperea and much, much longer in Eubalaena.” width=”584″ height=”769″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/desmostylus_caperea_-eubalaena5882.jpg?w=584&h=769 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/desmostylus_caperea_-eubalaena5882.jpg?w=114&h=150 114w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/desmostylus_caperea_-eubalaena5882.jpg?w=228&h=300 228w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/desmostylus_caperea_-eubalaena5882.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Taxa in the lineage of right whales include Desmostylus, Caperea and Eubalaena. The tiny bit of jugal posterior to the orbit (in cyan) is found in all baleen whales tested so far. The frontals over the eyes are just roofing the eyeballs in Desmostylus, much wider in Caperea and much, much longer in Eubalaena.
Don’t include unrelated taxa in focused studies.
That’s called cherry-picking, even if traditionally and academically supported.
Don’t omit related taxa in focused studies.
The LRT minimizes taxon exclusion and illuminates taxon convergence by including so many taxa.
References
Peacock J, Waugh DA, Bajpai S and Thewissen JGM 2025. The evolution of hearing and brain size in Eocene whales. Paleobiology, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2024.64
Peters D 2018. The triple origin of whales. PDF of manuscript and figures
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/05/19/new-whale-ear-study-suffers-from-taxon-inclusion-exclusion-issues/
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