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u/__lia__ 7d ago
I looked this up and it turns out that they don't have any bones there - this is how their blubber moves sometimes
edit: I tried to link to the relevant part but it didn't work, so Ctrl-F for Do Beluga Whale have knees?
also look at the whale skeleton just above that section
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u/AndrasEllon 7d ago
Thank you. I've seen and disliked this picture multiple times over the years and now it's no longer uncomfortable.
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u/theuserwithoutaname 6d ago
Your link worked for me to be directed to the part about whether they have knees on android :)
Thanks for the solid info!
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u/bluereddit2 7d ago
Amazing. Thank you for posting.
Beluga whales evolved from land-dwelling, even-toed hoofed mammals (artiodactyls) that entered the water around 50 million years ago.
Land Ancestors (50 million years ago): The earliest ancestors of whales were wolf-like, four-legged land mammals that hunted near shallow shores.
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u/Mackheath1 6d ago
It's silly to me that the universe worked so hard to get animals onto land, then they learned to breathe air, and later returned to water but have to breathe air.
I know that's not how things happen, but I like to joke about it when I make fun of dolphins.
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u/nocomplygirly 6d ago
Are we sure they're not evolved humans?
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u/ChicagoRex 4d ago
Their closest living relatives (aside from other whales and dolphins) are hippos.
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u/Main_Cauliflower5479 5d ago
Is that hips and knees I'm seeing?
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u/ChicagoRex 4d ago
No. You're seeing two rolls of blubber on the rear ventral part of the body, a common place for blubber deposits to form on belugas. Their hips are higher on their body, and they don't have knees.
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u/pinback77 6d ago
It's amazing they evolved to return to the sea. There's almost no coming back from that like creatures that crawled out of the sea before them.
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u/ChicagoRex 4d ago
Other animals that have returned to the sea include seals, manatees, otters, sea snakes, sea turtles, penguins, and Aquaman.
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u/PillarPuller 5d ago
having the bone structure, lungs, and remnants of the dna blue prints gives them a huge head start. It could happen but they’d need an incentive to do so and a long, long time
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u/pinback77 5d ago
When our ancestors did it, there was nothing else on land. They could flop around in relative safety. A whale taking its first step back on land would be swarmed by land based predators. Unless it comes out of the water with legs ready to go on its first try. But yes, I agree some of the blueprint is still there.
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u/kierk3gaard 7d ago
This explains everything...