This was from British Columbia in 1920. “This particular whale was a female humpback of the average length, with elementary legs protruding from the body about 4 feet 2 inches” (Notes on the Occurrence of a Humpbacked Whale having Hind Legs)
> I enclose herewith three photographs showing the unusual development of the pelvic Rudiments in a whale captured at the Kyuquot Station last July, of which you have the bones. It is to be regretted that better pictures in evidence of this unprecedented development were not obtained.
Ok super dumb question but I thought the tail fin was basically the two feet fused together. I’m not sure why this picture has the extra fins on the body and a tail.
A whale is a mammal, and the tail of a whale is analogous to the tail of a dog, or cat, or otter, or other mammal with a tail.
The hind legs of whales essentially atrophied away as they evolved. Some whales have small vestigial limb bones sort of floating inside their lower abdomen.
A couple of years ago I visited a whale exhibition at the natural history museum in London. They had skeletons and models showing the evolution of the whale from a land mammal. The shrinking of the legs/pelvis and eventual detachment from the spine was fascinating to see laid out.
