Rodhocetus had a powerful tail for swimming and a more flexible spine for tail movements. It appeared to have legs strong enough to move on land, but they were shorter, and less useful  ,  Indohyus was about a 12 to 15 pound mammal that looked like a miniature deer, with a face and tail more like a rodent. It had heavy bones making it slow on land and easier prey for predators. In the water, the same structural feature would help it stay on the bottom, where it could forage and hide, Basilosarus was a very large, serpentine animal that was known to eat other “whale-like” animals. It was very small around the hips, and had hind limb bones that were too small to bear its weight on land. The vertebral column shares characteristics of whales with tail flukes., Ambolocetus lacked a blowhole, but its skull and tooth structure were very similar to modern whales. Its spine moved up and down for swimming, like the modern whales do, but its four legs were still functional enough that it was probably able to walk on land in the same way sea lions do today,

Fossil Evidence

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