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Phalanx bone
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==== Cetaceans ==== Whales exhibit hyperphalangy. Hyperphalangy is an increase in the number of phalanges beyond the [[Plesiomorphy and symplesiomorphy|plesiomorphic]] mammal condition of three phalanges-per-digit.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Cooper|first1=Lisa|last2=Sears|first2=Karen|last3=Armfield|first3=Brooke|last4=Kala|first4=Bhavneet|last5=Hubler|first5=Merla|last6=Thewissen|first6=J G M|date=2017-10-01|title=Review and experimental evaluation of the embryonic development and evolutionary history of flipper development and hyperphalangy in dolphins (Cetacea: Mammalia)|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320639177|journal=Genesis|volume=56|issue=1|pages=e23076|doi=10.1002/dvg.23076|pmid=29068152|doi-access=free}}</ref> Hyperphalangy was present among extinct [[Marine reptile|marine reptiles]] -- [[Ichthyosaur|ichthyosaurs]], [[Plesiosauria|plesiosaurs]], and [[Mosasaur|mosasaurs]] -- but not other marine mammals, leaving whales as the only [[Marine mammal|marine mammals]] to develop this characteristic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fedak|first1=Tim J|last2=Hall|first2=Brian K|date=2004|title=Perspectives on hyperphalangy: patterns and processes|journal=Journal of Anatomy|volume=204|issue=3|pages=151β163|doi=10.1111/j.0021-8782.2004.00278.x|issn=0021-8782|pmc=1571266|pmid=15032905}}</ref> The evolutionary process continued over time, and a very derived form of hyperphalangy, with six or more phalanges per digit, evolved convergently in [[Rorqual|rorqual whales]] and [[Oceanic dolphin|oceanic dolphins]], and was likely associated with another wave of signaling within the interdigital tissues.<ref name=":52">{{Cite journal|last1=Cooper|first1=Lisa|last2=Sears|first2=Karen|last3=Armfield|first3=Brooke|last4=Kala|first4=Bhavneet|last5=Hubler|first5=Merla|last6=Thewissen|first6=J G M|date=2017-10-01|title=Review and experimental evaluation of the embryonic development and evolutionary history of flipper development and hyperphalangy in dolphins (Cetacea: Mammalia)|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320639177|journal=Genesis|volume=56|issue=1|pages=e23076|doi=10.1002/dvg.23076|pmid=29068152|doi-access=free}}</ref>
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