European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Fossil find once had feet t i he first foot Bones and Hind legs of a whale Ever found have been unearthed among 40 million year old fossils in a Northern egyptian desert that was once a sea. Scientists say the fossils arc Long sought evidence that a pair of functional Hind limbs and feet with three toes extended from the whales Pelvic Region. The feet were about two thirds of the Way Down the 50-foot-Ipng serpentine body. Philip d. Gingrich director of the museum of palaeontology at the University of Michigan headed the team that made the startling finds in the Zeug Lodon Valley about 95 Miles Southwest of Cairo. A i was certainly surprised a says Gingerich. A i never seriously thought a whale this late in time living in water would have feet. I would have expected it at the time of transition to Marine  palaeontologists have Long known that ancient whales had Pel vises and femurs they theorized that they had functioning legs. But they Felt the ancestors of this late eocene epoch Basil saurus Isis whale left the land for the sea about 10 million years earlier. So what were the feet used for a a they re so Small that there a no Way they could be used for locomotion either to walk with and support that heavy body or to act As Keels rudders or fins to stabilize swimming a Gingrich says. A it seems to me that they could Only be some kind of sexual or reproductive Clasper but even that May be too Strong a word because the Bones these Bones from a fossilized whale show that the creatures once had feet and toes. National geographic Are so Small. Maybe they acted As guides just a Little something to give some control Over posture relative to another  generally the Pelvis and Hind limbs of mammals Are thought of As functioning Only in locomotion but Gingei Casays they Are also in. Portent in reproduction. The legs of the Basil saurus whale represent the loss of the locomotive function but the retention of the reproductive one. A these limbs Are vestiges of the whales land ancestry a a dramatic link Between a limb used for locomotion and the absence of a functional Hind limb in Modem whales a he says. The Hind limbs which measure Only about 2 feet from the head of the femur to the tip of the longest toe were probably always flexed at the knee. When at rest they were folded Back against the body Wall. A this is a sensational discovery a says Elwyn l. Simons of Duke University who participated in the find. A a palaeontologists have been collecting Fossil whales for at least 150 years without finding such structures. It is rare to find solid evidence of How a major evolutionary change took  a Gingerich describes the ecu Jodon Valley As a a palent Logist s  within the 5-by-8-mite area that he surveyed during four seasons of fieldwork he uncovered 243 skeletons of 50-foot whales 77 smaller whales and an array of seashells Sand dollars and sea snakes. The Valley was once part of the ancient tethys sea of which the Mediterranean is a shrinking remnant. During this latest expedition Gingerich was searching for Small specimens such As hand Bones. In the final week he unexpectedly came across a piece of Bone that he recognized As part of a femur. Studying it he realized that another Bone had been attached to the end farthest from the body and that it must be part of a Complete leg. Then he knew he had something special. National geographic at a glance Iceland size 39,769 Square Miles size of Virginia population 251,000 1989 est main language icelandic currency Kronur $1=61 travel restrictions no visa required for american tourists. Overview a mountainous country known for its ice Fields a a one eighth of the land is covered by glaciers a and hot Springs a More than any other country in the world. Territory includes 14 volcanic islands olt the Southern coast. Fishing is the main Industry Little farming is done on the Rocky land. More than half the population lives in the capital of Reykjavik and its metropolitan area much of which is heated by the natural hot Springs. Iceland is considered part of Europe even though it is 500 Miles from Britain the nearest european country. Its a fact despite its name Iceland is not that cold its average temperature in january is 30 of about the same As new York City. Any questions. Q a can animals of different species understand each other a a in some cases yes says or Colin Beer of the Institute of animal behaviour of Rutgers University. Beer an ethnologist or biologist who studies behaviour patterns said that Birds in mixed flocks often respond to each others alarm Calls and that this could be a matter of q a is there a Way to Tell if handwriting was done by a Man or a woman a a a not with any certainty a claims Russell d. Osborn of Osborn document examiners of new York lie is a grandson of Albert s. Osborn who pioneered scientific document verification in the last Century. Either Learned behaviour or an inborn instinct. He said it is also possible that Deer might take warning from Bird Calls As in the Story a Bambi a although there Are certainly no inter species conversations in the Forest. A the communication is on the level of simple signals of danger or expressions of anger a he said. A there is no doubt that when a Wolf snarls when cornered it conveys a defensive threat and it can be understood across species  Quot in a study i participated in decades ago with Columbia University students we distributed file cards to about 5,000 people and i identified the sex of the writer about 80 percent of the time simply on the Assumption that women usually write More neatly a he said. A but what Good is 80 percent a As far As analysis of personality or identification of sex goes he said he regards Quot graphology As a  new York times Page 10 c sunday july is. 1990