Couttagilah
“ It is not not curious, that so vast a being as the whale should see the world through so small an eye, and hear the thunder through an ear which is smaller than a hare's? ”
– Herman Melville
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: †Pakicetidae
Genius: †Pakicetus
Species: †Pakicetus inachus
Descendant: †Indohyus
Named by: Philip Dean Gingerich and Donald Eugene Russell
Year Published: 1981
Size: 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) to 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) in length.; 40 kg in weight
Lifespan: 30+ years
Activity: Diurnal 🌅
Thermoregulate: Endotherm
Type(s):
Synapsids
Mammals (Whales)
Title(s):
First Whale
Whaledog
Pantheon(s):
Terran/Gaian 🇺🇳
Pakistani 🇵🇰
Time Period: Early Eocene
Alignment: Shy
Threat Level: ★★
Diet: Carnivorous
Element(s): Water 🌊
Inflict(s): Bleeding 🩸
Weakness(es): Electric ⚡, Leaf 🌿
Casualties: ???
Based On: itself
Conservation Status:
Earth (Eocene): Not Evaluated (NE) – IUCN Red List
Earth (Oligocene-Holocene): Extinct (EX) – IUCN Red List
Berbania/Hirawhassa: Extinct in the Wild (EW) – IUCN Red List
Reinachos/Ityosel: Endangered (EN) – IUCN Red List
Delphia/Thatrollwa: Extinct in the Wild (EW) – IUCN Red List
The Couttagilah (Pakicetus inachus; Urdu: کتاگیلا, kuttāgīlā) is the only terrestrial whale located in Pakistan today as first-ever cetaceans during the Eocene, about 56 to 41 million years ago. It belongs to the even-toed ungulates with the closest living relative being the hippopotamus. Originated from Pakistan to possibly the Indian subcontinent during the Eocene.
From Greek and Latin words for "Pakistan whale".
Pakicetus had no resemblance to a contemporary whale. With certain early aquatic adaptations, it looked like a land mammal the size of a dog or wolf. Similar to crocodilians, Pakicetus featured long, slender legs, a long tail that was not fluked, an elongated head with a long snout, and eyes that were positioned high on the skull—possibly for scanning above water. Their dense limb bones, which resemble those of contemporary hippos, are an adaptation for stability in shallow water. As in most land mammals, the nose was at the tip of the snout. Unlike all cetaceans, Pakicetus had a dense fur like hippos; however, given their relatively close relationships with hippos.
Pakicetus inachus was between one and two meters (3 and 6 feet) long and weighed forty kilograms.
Pakicetus was primarily terrestrial, even though it was the first whale. Pakicetus was probably able to run or trot like a dog because of their abilities. Because it had a thicker ear bone (involucrum), a characteristic of whales, Pakicetus was likely able to hear better underwater than most land animals, though not as well as modern whales. Pakicetus's heterodont, or several tooth varieties, was designed to help it grab prey.
Although Pakicetus probably likely waded or paddled in small rivers, their swimming was neither deep nor swift. Instead of moving like fish, they moved like a wolf moving through water.
In the Earth Responsibly world, Pakicetus probably used accurate water jets to swat enemy to stunned. They can aim precisely up to two to five meters away and adjust for light refraction. Through learning, the juveniles of this terrestrial cetacean gradually improve their aim.
Wear, in the form of scrapes on the molars, indicated that Pakicetus ground its teeth as it chewed its food and could rend and tear flesh. Because of the tooth wear, Pakicetus is to have eaten fish and small animals. The teeth also suggest that Pakicetus had herbivorous and omnivorous ancestors.
Pakicetus occurs with a land-mammal fauna in fluvial sediments bordering epicontinental Eocene remnants of the eastern Tethys seaway. Discovery of Pakicetus strengthens earlier inferences that whales originated from terrestrial carnivorous mammals and suggests that whales made a gradual transition from land to sea in the early Eocene, spending progressively more time feeding on planktivorous fishes in shallow, highly productive seas and embayments associated with tectonic closure of eastern Tethys.
No evidence suggests aquatic birthing at this early evolutionary stage. Reproduction is inferred from related species:
Almost certainly laid birth on land, not in water.
Gestation likely similar to modern hoofed mammals (whales' closest land relatives).
Probably gave birth to a single well-developed calf.
In Earth Responsibly world, Pakicetus was territorial around water sources, shy and cautious, and an ambush or opportunistic predator. It lived in small family groups or couples because it was a solidarity animal. For eating and thermoregulation, Pakicetus spent a lot of time near water.
How could Pakicetus treat people if it were still around today? Similar to a giant otter or wild canid, Pakicetus was cautious and avoidant. It was not naturally hostile until it was in danger, and while it would tolerate people at a distance, it would not actively seek them out.
Pakicetus changed into more aquatic forms rather than going extinct overnight. Adaptive replacement: descendants (Ambulocetus, Remingtonocetus, protocetids, and later cetaceans) surpassed it in aquatic niches; environmental changes: shifting ecosystems and coastlines favored more aquatic mammals; and adaptive shift: more specialized proto-cetaceans replaced the Pakicetus-like terrestrial form. Instead of being "wiped out," Pakicetus essentially developed into cetaceans.
Originate from Pakistan to possibly the Indian subcontinent during the Eocene. Pakicetus only lives in areas that are close to streams or rivers in their natural habitat, which is a closed-canopy, wet, tropical lowland forest. If the area is more than 70 meters away from the sea in prehistoric Pakistan the species rarely inhabits it.
Movement Pattern: Nomadic
Individual Type: Random
Population Trend: Stable
Population: 0
Locomotion: Amphibious
Habitat: Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests, Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests; Air-breathing Coral Reefs; Graveyard Vale; Warm River; Cold River; Lukewarm River; Subterranean River; Warm Pond; Cold Pond; Aquifer; Warm Littoral; Cold Littoral; Warm Intertidal; Cold Intertidal; Kelp Forest; Coral Reef; Barrier Reef; Guyot; Neritic Zone (Warm); Neritic Zone (Cold); Pelagic Zone (Warm); Pelagic Zone (Cold); Benthic Zone.
Earth:
Extinct: Bangladesh; India; Nepal; Pakistan
Pakicetus are easy to tame in Earth Responsibly universe (home of Rapunzel and others), you can easily knock them out with your fists or by using a tranquilizer on the entire body or slingshot on the head.
It would be challenging and unethical to keep a Pakicetus as a pet. Their main issues are that they have wild carnivorous impulses, need access to water and huge land areas, have strong jaws and keen teeth that may easily kill humans and elves, have a solitary or small-group social structure, and require a specific diet as terrestrial cetaceans.
In northern Pakistan and were dated as early to early-middle Eocene in age. Indohyus was a small chevrotain-like cetacean that lived about 48 million years ago, as showed signs of adaptations to aquatic life, including dense limb bones that reduce buoyancy so that they could stay underwater, which are similar to the adaptations found in modern aquatic mammals such as the hippopotamus. By using stable oxygen isotopes analysis, they were shown to drink fresh water, implying that they lived around freshwater bodies. Their diet probably included land animals that approached water for drinking or some freshwater aquatic organisms that lived in the river
The first fossil, a skull fragment of Pakicetus inachus, was found in 1981 in Pakistan. Subsequent fossils of this animal were also found in Pakistan, hence the generic name Pakicetus. The fossils were found in the Kuldana Formation in Kohat in northern Pakistan and were dated as early to early-middle Eocene in age.
Mandarin: 巴基鯨
Navajo: Koottagilah; Paki'setoos
Nihongo: パキケトゥス; クッタギラ
Armenian: Պակիսետւս (Pakisetus); Կւտագիլախ (Kutagilakh)
Hindi: कुत्तागिला (kuttāgīlā); पकिसेतुस् (pakisetus)
Urdu: کتاگیلا (kuttāgīlā)
Persian:
کوتاگیله (kutagilah)
پاکیستس (pakisetus)
Russian: Пакицеты (Pakitset'); Куттаиглахь (Kuttagilah')
Ukrainian: Кутаґілаг (Kutagilah)
The first ever draw the archaeoceti in this year.