Ambulocetus natans is a species of early amphibious archaeocete cetacean
from the Kuldana Formation in Pakistan during the early Eocene, 48 or
47 million years ago. It is among the most completely known Eocene
cetaceans, vital to the study of cetacean evolution and the transition
from land to sea. Ambulocetus probably had a long, broad, and powerful
snout, and eyes near the top of the head. It may have hunted like a
crocodile, waiting near the water's surface and ambushing large mammals,
using the jaws to clamp onto and drown or thrash prey. It may have swum
like a river otter, alternating beats of the hind limbs while keeping
the forelimbs tucked in for most of its propulsive power, simultaneously
undulating the torso and tail. It had four functional limbs and may have
walked much like a sea lion. It possibly had webbed feet and lacked a
tail fluke. It lived in a hot, coastal swamp, probably in a river mouth.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambulocetus>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1863:
Pickett's Charge, a futile Confederate infantry assault against
Union Army positions, occurred during the final and bloodiest day of
fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg, marking a turning point in the
American Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickett%27s_Charge>
1940:
Second World War: The Royal Navy attacked the French fleet at
Mers El Kébir (ship pictured), fearing that the ships would fall into
Axis hands after the French–German armistice.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir>
1970:
Dan-Air Flight 1903 crashed into the slopes of the Montseny
Massif in Catalonia, Spain, killing all 112 people aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan-Air_Flight_1903>
2013:
General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coalition to depose Egyptian
president Mohamed Morsi in a coup d'état, suspending the constitution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Egyptian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
ambivert:
(psychology) A person who is neither clearly extroverted nor
introverted, but has characteristics of each.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ambivert>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The decisive moment in human evolution is perpetual. That is why
the revolutionary spiritual movements that declare all former things
worthless are in the right, for nothing has yet happened.
--Franz Kafka
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka>
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