In August, the blue whale was cut down to size. Once known as the heaviest animal to have ever existed, that title has now been claimed by a gargantuan species of ancient whale discovered in Peru. The oversized beast, dubbed Perucetus colossus, has delighted people around the world.
The story of P. colossus began in 2010, when at the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in Germany and his colleagues unearthed the partial skeleton of an enormous whale in southern Peru. The team鈥檚 subsequent analysis of the bones, which are 39 million years old, have now revealed that the fossil belonged to a previously unknown species of whale.
The ancient whale was a hefty creature, weighing between 85 and 340 tonnes. The largest blue whale on record weighed 190 tonnes, which positions P. colossus as a leading contender for the heaviest animal to ever exist.
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Amson and his team were surprised to find that the discovery captured people鈥檚 imaginations, leading to numerous depictions of the whale. 鈥淚 think almost everyone, even people not really into science were intrigued,鈥� he says. 鈥淥n Spotify, there is even a song called Perucetus colossus.鈥�
A colony of giant penguins has taken residence on the back of a Perucetus. The gentle giant stays in the shallows grazing sea grass meadows, moving so slowly that it barely disturbs the marine birds. :B Totally speculative take on the humongous basilosaurid announced today.
鈥� Hodari Shadowalker 鉂勶笍馃悊 (@HodariNundu)
The example above is a personal favourite of team member at the University of Pisa, Italy. 鈥淚t reminds me of the algae that sometimes coats the backs of manatees,鈥� he says.
Now, Amson and the team hope to go back to Peru to uncover more fossils and study the whale in more detail. 鈥淚f we could find a specimen with a skull, that would be quite tremendous,鈥� he says.
