Perucetus colossus, Peruvian basilosaurid fossil, possibly larger than blue whale

[JBkansas]

Perucetus colossus, new whale fossil (39mya) from Peru, estimated to have weighed upto 340 tons.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/08/02/largest-animal-whale-p-colossus/

 

Article (paywalled): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06381-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by JBkansas

[automech]

[rocket]

incredible...., maximum of 340 Tons , that a lot...

[rew]

My own collecting is mostly Paleozoic, but there are plenty of interesting fossils that come later.  Like this early whale.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/perucetus-whale-fossil-heavy-1.6925284

[Tidgy's Dad]

From the BBC : 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66384632

And from cbc : 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/perucetus-whale-fossil-heavy-1.6925284

Edited August 3, 2023 by Tidgy's Dad

[JBkansas]

I beat you to it @Tidgy's Dad 

 

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/135483-perucetus-colossus-peruvian-basilosaurid-fossil-possibly-larger-than-blue-whale/

Edited August 3, 2023 by JBkansas

[Tidgy's Dad]

Fair enough. 

I expect the gang will merge the topics. 

[JBkansas]

The article is very interesting but it will be hard to prove it was heavier unless we can find some more complete skeletons. 

[JohnJ]

Topics merged.

[Jared C]

13 hours ago, JBkansas said:

The article is very interesting but it will be hard to prove it was heavier unless we can find some more complete skeletons. 

From what I hear, this specimen (found in 2010) is facing straight into the hillside, and excavation is not complete - apparently it'll be several more years until they reach where they think the head is.  The size and density of the bones has made it a years long effort to recover what they have so far, and I guess they just went along with making a paper now because enough could be garnered from current recovered bone. Hopefully updates will continue.

 

These are the online murmurings I've heard, so take it with a pinch of salt. My school doesn't subscribe to nature so I can't get access to the paper to verify

Edited August 3, 2023 by Jared C