Colossal whale may be heaviest animal

A newly discovered ancient species of whale is thought to be even heavier than the blue whale, the largest animal ever known to have lived on Earth

PERU

Perucetus colossus Lived in middle Eocene period (39 million years ago)

Partial skeleton – 13 vertebrae, four ribs and hip bone – found in Ica desert

High bone
mass indicates P. colossus lived in shallow waters


Vertebrae
Rib
Hip

Skeleton of P. colossus (20 metres long) compared with Wexford Blue Whale (25 metres) exhibited at London’s Natural History Museum

P. colossus had skeletal mass 2-3 times that of 25m-long blue whale and body mass of 85-340 tonnes, equalling or exceeding that of blue whale

New findings indicate gigantism in marine mammals began 30 million years earlier than previously thought

Pictures: Alberto Gennari, Florent Goussard, Marco Merella, Trustees of the Natural History Museum
Source: Nature © GRAPHIC NEWS