An incredibly massive ancient whale skeleton reveals a new way to become a giant

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk769

Keywords:

cetacean, fossil, Eocene, Basilosauridae, Peru

Abstract

Based on a fossil specimen discovered in deposits from Peru, Perucetus colossus, a new early whale species, is described and characterized by surprisingly heavy bones. Combining this massive skeleton with a body length of about 20 meters results in record-breaking body weight estimates. It makes this slow-swimming coastal giant a contender to the title of the heaviest animal ever.

Author Biography

  • Olivier Lambert, Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique

    Group leader

Original article reference

Bianucci, G., Lambert, O., Urbina, M., Merella, M., Collareta, A., Bennion, R., Salas-Gismondi, R., Benites-Palomino, A., Post, K., Muizon, C. de, Bosio, G., Di Celma, C., Malinverno, E., Pierantoni, P. P., Villa, I. M. & Amson, E., 2023. A heavyweight early whale pushes the boundaries of vertebrate morphology. Nature, 620: 824-829.

Modern Balaenoptera musculus

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Published

2023-11-27

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 4 (2023): TheScienceBreaker

Section

Evolution & Behaviour

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Olivier Lambert

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.