There could be a new contender for heaviest animal to ever live. While today害羞草研究所檚 blue whale has long held the title, scientists have dug up fossils from an ancient giant that could tip the scales.
Researchers described the new species 害羞草研究所� named Perucetus colossus, or 害羞草研究所渢he colossal whale from Peru害羞草研究所� 害羞草研究所� on Wednesday. Each vertebra weighs over 220 pounds (100 kilograms) and its ribs measure nearly 5 feet (1.4 meters) long.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 just exciting to see such a giant animal that害羞草研究所檚 so different from anything we know,害羞草研究所� said Hans Thewissen, a paleontologist at Northeast Ohio Medical University who had no role in the research.
The bones were first discovered more than a decade ago by Mario Urbina from the University of San Marcos害羞草研究所� Natural History Museum in Lima. An international team spent years digging them out from the side of a steep, rocky slope in the Ica desert, a region in Peru that was once underwater and is known for its rich marine fossils. The results: 13 vertebrae from the whale害羞草研究所檚 backbone, four ribs and a hip bone.
The massive fossils, which are 39 million years old, 害羞草研究所渁re unlike anything I害羞草研究所檝e ever seen,害羞草研究所� said study author Alberto Collareta, a paleontologist at Italy害羞草研究所檚 University of Pisa.
After the excavations, the researchers used 3D scanners to study the surface of the bones and drilled into them to peek inside. They used the huge 害羞草研究所� but incomplete 害羞草研究所� skeleton to estimate the whale害羞草研究所檚 size and weight, using modern marine mammals for comparison, said study author Eli Amson, a paleontologist at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany.
They calculated that the ancient giant weighed somewhere between 94 and 375 tons (85 and 340 metric tons). The biggest blue whales found have been within that range 害羞草研究所� at around 200 tons (180 metric tons).
Its body stretched to around 66 feet (20 meters) long. Blue whales can be longer 害羞草研究所� with some growing to more than 100 feet (30 meters) in length.
This means the newly discovered whale was 害羞草研究所減ossibly the heaviest animal ever,害羞草研究所� Collareta said, but 害羞草研究所渋t was most likely not the longest animal ever.害羞草研究所�
It weighs more in part because its bones are much denser and heavier than a blue whale害羞草研究所檚, Amson explained.
Those super-dense bones suggest that the whale may have spent its time in shallow, coastal waters, the authors said. Other coastal dwellers, like manatees, have heavy bones to help them stay close to the seafloor.
Without the skull, it害羞草研究所檚 hard to know what the whale was eating to sustain such a huge body, Amson said.
It害羞草研究所檚 possible that P. colossus was scavenging for food along the seafloor, researchers said, or eating up tons of krill and other tiny sea creatures in the water.
But 害羞草研究所淚 wouldn害羞草研究所檛 be surprised if this thing actually fed in a totally different way that we would never imagine,害羞草研究所� Thewissen added.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute害羞草研究所檚 Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Maddie Burakoff, The Associated Press
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