39-Million-Year-Old Whale a Leading Candidate for Heaviest Animal in History
The blue whale currently reigns supreme on the throne, but a new species that has just been scientifically elucidated may have held it in check.
Thirty-nine million years ago, a sea potato, majestic for a whale, drifted along the coast off Peru, and the discovery of 13 vertebrae and several ribs has led researchers to estimate that this whale may have been the heaviest animal in existence.
This is why cetaceans in the suborder Mammalia, which includes dolphins, whales, and porpoises, are so abundant in absolute numbers. The newly discovered species appears to have taken that adaptation a step further, becoming so massive that it is estimated to have the largest skeletal mass of any known sea creature or mammal.
The new whale species, which lived 39 million years ago, has been named Percetus colossus. The name comes from its native Peru, the Latin word for whale (cetus), and the ancient Greek word kolossós, meaning a large statue, or in this case, a heavy whale turned upside down.
As is often the case with giant animals, because of its mightiness, the kolossós has not survived fully in the fossil record. The researchers working on this find were able to retrieve 13 vertebrae, four ribs, and one hip bone from a site in southern Peru. While this may not seem like a significant amount, it is enough to predict that the skeleton was two to three times the weight of any extant blue whale skeleton.
Considering this staggering statistic, its total weight was likely between 85 and 340 tons. This would equal or far exceed the weight of the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), meaning that this ancient whale would have been crowned the heaviest animal in history.
Source: 39-Million-Year-Old Whale a Leading Candidate for Heaviest Animal in History