This colossal extinct whale was the heaviest animal to ever live

A colossal historical species of whale that lived 39 million years in the past was a real heavyweight, weighing greater than double a blue whale and sure incomes itself the title because the heaviest identified animal to have ever lived.

The newly described basilosaurid (a household of extinct cetaceans), referred to as Perucetus colossus, eclipsed blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) in sheer weight with an estimated physique mass of between 187,000 to 750,000 kilos (85,000 to 340,000 kilograms). It had an estimated physique size of about 66 ft (20 meters) — longer than a lane at a bowling alley, in keeping with a brand new examine revealed Wednesday (Aug. 2) within the journal Nature.

Paleontologists found the partial skeletal stays of the monstrous marine mammal 30 years in the past in what’s now Ica Province in southern Peru. Since then, they’ve unearthed 13 vertebrae, 4 ribs and a hip bone, in keeping with an announcement.

“[One of my co-authors] was searching for fossils within the desert in Peru and noticed an outcropping of bones,” lead writer Eli Amson, a paleontologist and curator of fossil mammals on the Stuttgart State Museum of Pure Historical past in Germany, instructed Dwell Science. “Digging out the fossils took lots of time due to their sheer dimension. Every vertebra alone weighs 150 kilos [330 pounds].”

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Researchers can solely estimate how monumental P. colossus was utilizing the restricted variety of bones they unearthed, as a lot of the animal’s stays have decayed over time — together with all of its tender tissues.

Nonetheless, the bones they did recuperate had been very dense, which means they weighed quite a bit. To compensate for this heavy skeleton, the group believes the whale’s tender tissues had been possible lighter in weight than the bones, offsetting its heavy skeleton and serving to it change into extra buoyant, in keeping with the examine.

Three men use a pulley system to move a giant whale vertebra.

One of many vertebra being transported from its level of origin in Peru’s Ica Province. (Picture credit score: Giovanni Bianucci)

In consequence, P. colossus possible had a really bizarre look. The group likened it to a contemporary manatee, however with a tiny head, an unlimited physique and little legs and arms. “It may need regarded a lot weirder than we predict,” Amson mentioned.

“When it comes to weight, P. colossus was undoubtedly bulkier than a blue whale. However the general physique size was shorter than the blue whale [and measured] 20 meters (66 ft). It is laborious to estimate precisely how a lot blubber and tender tissues surrounded its skeleton, and so we went with a moderately conservative method with our dimension estimates,” Amson mentioned.

However that bizarre look could have helped it to stay buoyant and enabled it to glide slowly via the water, just like manatees (genus Trichechus), the researchers wrote within the examine.

Not solely does P. colossus shatter our perceptions of what the world’s heaviest animal may need regarded like, it additionally challenges what we all know in regards to the evolution of cetaceans. This discovery means they reached their peak physique mass 30 million years sooner than initially thought.

“P. colossus fully modifications our understanding of evolution and excessive gigantism in cetaceans,” Amson mentioned. “It was almost certainly a gradual traveler and a shallow diver. We’re unsure what it ate since its head and enamel did not survive. It is solely speculative, however we predict it spent most of its time on the backside of the ocean not burning lots of vitality to get its sources of meals.”

Jeremy Goldbogen, an affiliate professor of oceans with the Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford College in California, who was not affiliated with the paper, mentioned that finding out P. colossus can provide new insights into the evolution of marine giants.

“The described species, Perucetus colossus, was clearly a big animal, and it had a heavy skeleton,” he instructed Dwell Science in an e mail. “Was it greater than a blue whale? Perhaps it was and possibly it wasn’t. I’d argue that [the] extra essential questions relate to the evolution of complete teams of associated species and the biology underlying when and why they bought huge.”

The specimen is presently being housed on the Pure Historical past Museum in Lima.

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