Key Earth Science Links
Cenozoic Era—Mammal evolution examples
Horses:
Horses in Cyberspace. Florida Natural History Museum. Well illustrated and nontechnical summary of the fossil evidence for horse evolution; its not as straightforward as some people think.
Horse Evolution. Kathleen Hunt, Talk Origins Archive. Comprehensive, slightly technical summary of the fossil evidence for horse evolution with a historical background, time scale, and discussion of major equine lineages.
The Evolution of Horses. George Johnson. Good short summaries of the main physical changes that accompanied horse evolution; increasing size, toe reduction, and changes in tooth structure.
Whales:
Primitive Whales and Whale Evolution. Enchanted Learning Software. Nontechnical summary of the evolution of whales that lists important species in the evolution of whales from land mammals.
Becoming Whales. Evolution and the Nature of Science Institute. Lesson plan in which students arrange pictures of ancient whales to determine the order of evolution. This lesson provides multiple independent lines of evidence to show that there is gradual accumulation of changes, linking certain terrestrial mammal groups with modern whales.
Evolution of Whales. Smithsonian. Whales have existed for millions of years. Watch this animation, from the Sant Ocean Hall, to see how they evolved from land-dwellers to the animals we know today. Discover more about whale evolution in our Ocean Over Time interactive.
Elephants:
Stories and Histories--Evolution. Elephant Information Repository. Short evolutionary history of elephants with a simplified phylogenetic diagram.