Ancient sea reptiles have similar inner ears to whales and crocs, Wits scientists find
The Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has cracked open yet another secret from the ancient past.It has discovered that some marine reptiles from millions of years ago had similar inner ears to modern-day aquatic creatures such as whales‚ sea turtles and crocodiles.The inner ear may be a relatively tiny part of the body of any animal‚ but it is a powerful "map" of the lives lived by creatures, which have long since disappeared from our world.This is because the inner ear contains a tiny sense organ responsible for balance and orientation. It gives clues to the locomotion of an animal — especially those in a three-dimensional environment like the sea.The university said in a statement that an international team of researchers led by Dr James Neenan at Wits were surprised "that a completely extinct group of marine reptiles called sauropterygians (swimming reptiles from the age of dinosaurs) evolved similar inner ear proportions to those of som...
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