In a study published in Nature this week, researchers now say that a fossilized whale skull discovered outside Charleston, SC presents all the tell-tales signs related to echolocation in present-day toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises. The skull is approximately 28 million years old, belonged to whats now the oldest known creature to use echolocation to hunt. According to Nature World News, the ancient whale, classified as Cotylocara macei, existed in the same era as when toothed whales and non-toothed whales branched off on the evolutionary tree. That split occurred between 32 and 34 million years ago, meaning that echolocation evolved as far back as that time.
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