The Natural History Museum contained a wide variety of sea going mammalian exhibits from the Blue Whale to the Orca (Killer Whale), but one exhibit seemed quite out of place which is the prehistoric mammal pictured above called the Mesonyx. Although this was not a coincidence of having this ancient creature along with the whales.
The didactic states that these mammals are classified Mesonychid, and fossil evidence shows that the Mesonyx might be an ancient ancestor of modern whales and dolphins. The Mesonyx is commonly misidentified as a wolf-like creature, but has no connection to the wolf given it evolved and went extinct before the wolf existed. Although this mammal does look similar to the wolf and other four legged carnivores it is different in almost every aspect. Still unknown current fossil evidence supports the assumption that Mesonyx did not hunt in packs, was not a very intelligent, and didn't show signs of sophisticated behavior. These attributes were not developed until later Carnivorous mammals with higher brain power, and the ability to have sophisticated personalities. This means that the Mesonyx most likely acted off of pure instinct, and would be much different from our modern wolves.
The Mesonyx was most likely too an apex predator of its time, given the sagittal crust that ran along the top of the skull. This feature enabled for larger jaw muscles leading to an extreme amount of biting force. It enabled for the Mesonyx to kill smaller prey almost instantly, and helped it take down larger prey too enabling it to keep grip. The Mesonyx (along with other Mesonychids) was the top predator of its time until late Eocene and the introduction of the Hyaenodon and Sarkastodon, which were similar but larger creatures.
The Mesonyx was a part of the genus Mesonychia which is the reason it is sometimes credited to be a very old ancestor of the whale. Although not fact the Mesonyx is credited as an ancestor of the whale given the similarities in the triangular molar shaped teeth. These teeth were also utilized by archaeocetids which is the the earliest of whales. The whale is more likely an ancestor of the hippopotamids, because of their closely related skeletal structures. This means the Natural History museum of London might be giving out slightly misleading information. However they do acknowledge the fact that whales did exist at the same time as the Mesonyx which means that that they must be related through an even earlier type of Mesonychid.
The Mesonyx would have roamed the land currently known as the US and China. The beast fed on mollusks or carrion which was typical of Mesonychids. Another specific trait the Mesonyx had was instead of clawed paws were toes ending in small hooves which can be seen in the picture above.
It is rather unsettling that the Natural History museum in London would still feature this mammal with the whales given its known factual history. Whether or not the Mesonyx is or is not a relative to the whale is still unknown along with a lot of other information commonly speculated about them. This information might make the observer question the validity to all of the exhibits contained in the museum, and should also help the observer to not take all information put in front of them as fact (even if it is from a known resource). The ambiguity and lack of information provided on the didactic may leave the observer wondering how qualified the creators and writers for the museum really are.
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