This small chevrotain-like animal found in the Himalayas is one of the earliest-known non-cetacean ancestors of whales.

Ranga Rao's widow gave the rocks to Hans Thewissen, who was working on them.

When his technician accidentally broke one of the skulls they had found, Thewissen recognised the ear structure of the auditory bulla, formed from the ectotympanic bone in a shape which is highly distinctive, found only in the skulls of cetaceans both living and extinct, including Pakicetus.

[3] About the size of a raccoon or domestic cat, this omnivorous pig-like creature shared some of the traits of whales, and showed signs of adaptations to aquatic life.

Heavy bones help reduce the buoyancy of living aquatic mammals so that they do not float up to the surface of the water.