A whale is a mammal.

its blow hole and mouth aren't connected. (so when it eats tones of krill at a time it wont drown)

evolution teaches that whales where land mammals that decided to go back into the ocean.

Mammals mouths and noses are connected.

so when the whale decided to go into the ocean it would have drowned?

so how did evolution make the whales nose and mouth disconnect?

there cant be partial disconnection

I'm no biologist. and don't claim to know what i'm talking about. so some enlightenment would be awesome.

duplicated post.

[edit on 9-13-2009 by rogerstigers]

yea but wouldn't the whale die during the time evolution was trying to separate these things?

i dont know. for some reason im not convinced evolution proves whales exist.......why would they just decide to live in the water???

Birds are another thing.......birds bones are nothing like reptile bones. there hollow and even act as a type of lung to hold air in! and feathers dont look like they used to be scales. they hold no ressemlence

Well To answer your question from an evolutionary stand point look to other aquatic mammals like Manatees and Hippos. The longer these guys stay in the water the more they change. What is happening is that their noses are going UP.

Logical right?

The manatee and hippo both have Large nostrols that are far above their mouths compared to other creatures like Otters.

Seals are keeping their nose low but they have turned their hands into fins...Like manatees but not like hippos.

So if you were looking for a missing link I would say look to manatee....maybe sealacamps..

Now when it comes to intelligence I think whales are not the smartest creatures. Porpoises on the other hand are sentient. They pass the self awareness mirror test and seem to have a complicated whistle click language.

For my two tax dollars I would spend more time trying to get to know the other sentient life forms here on earth before I went looking for them in space. Especially when their are over 40 types of porpoises.

id agree with that space comment. there are millions of species on earth yet to be discovered id bet!

You hear of the saying "When does a bad wing become a good leg?" answer
Never.

Originally posted by peaceonearth
You hear of the saying "When does a bad wing become a good leg?" answer
Never.

Yeah, thank you for that thought proviking and insightful contribution to the converstion.

Originally posted by the illuminator

Mammals mouths and noses are connected.

so when the whale decided to go into the ocean it would have drowned?

so how did evolution make the whales nose and mouth disconnect?

there cant be partial disconnection

Over a rather difficult to caculate span of time, evolution happens. What this means is there were presumably thousands of species and classes of animals that existed that where sub sects and part of mammalia which spawned the modern whale as we know it today.

Over MILLIONS of years of whales trying to eat and then subsequently drowning because they swallowed too much water while feeding, their species presumably evolved to a point where there where two different chambers, on for air, one for food.

I am bumping this thread. Came across it for another search. If I think I get what you mean...

Whales still breath air. Are you trying to figure out how they made the change from land to sea? They can hold their breath for very long periods of time, but still surface for air. But they adapted to go from drinking fresh water to salt. Because mammals usually can't drink sea water without getting sick.

There is a show on nat geo called Morph. It shows the progress evolutionary steps species took. It is fascinating. And whales were the most fascinating of all.
The whales started off as this funky looking creature like a cross between a pig and a rat the size of a dog.

They are one of evolution's most amazing creatures, with they way they have adapted and the abilities they obtained. Whales can control blood flow to their hearts and brains.

The blowhole IS the nose. And they are connected, but a whale can voluntary shut the blowhole as needed. They squeeze it shut like an eyelid. Just like you can grip your nose closed when dunking in a pool.

[edit on 10-10-2009 by nixie_nox]