There could be a new contender for heaviest animal to ever live. While today香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播� named Perucetus colossus, or 香蕉视频直播渢he colossal whale from Peru香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播� on Wednesday. Each vertebra weighs over 220 pounds (100 kilograms) and its ribs measure nearly 5 feet (1.4 meters) long.
香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 just exciting to see such a giant animal that香蕉视频直播檚 so different from anything we know,香蕉视频直播� 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香蕉视频直播� 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香蕉视频直播檚 backbone, four ribs and a hip bone.
The massive fossils, which are 39 million years old, 香蕉视频直播渁re unlike anything I香蕉视频直播檝e ever seen,香蕉视频直播� said study author Alberto Collareta, a paleontologist at Italy香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播� but incomplete 香蕉视频直播� skeleton to estimate the whale香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播� at around 200 tons (180 metric tons).
Its body stretched to around 66 feet (20 meters) long. Blue whales can be longer 香蕉视频直播� with some growing to more than 100 feet (30 meters) in length.
This means the newly discovered whale was 香蕉视频直播減ossibly the heaviest animal ever,香蕉视频直播� Collareta said, but 香蕉视频直播渋t was most likely not the longest animal ever.香蕉视频直播�
It weighs more in part because its bones are much denser and heavier than a blue whale香蕉视频直播檚, 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香蕉视频直播檚 hard to know what the whale was eating to sustain such a huge body, Amson said.
It香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播淚 wouldn香蕉视频直播檛 be surprised if this thing actually fed in a totally different way that we would never imagine,香蕉视频直播� Thewissen added.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute香蕉视频直播檚 Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Maddie Burakoff, The Associated Press
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