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According to your story, ‘The amphibious past of whales’ (Science, 20
March), ‘primitive whales were probably amphibians, as modern seals and
walruses are’. Amphibious these animals are; amphibians they most certainly
are not.

It’s a pity, really – if whales were amphibians, that much maligned
and oft ignored group might benefit from some of the huge amounts of public
sympathy (and money) available to cetacean conservation. The ‘cute and cuddly’
brigade have a far greater fund raising appeal, as even the most dedicated
herptile fan must admit (though with some chagrin).

Gareth Evans International Herpetological Society Stone, Staffordshire