Australia: Discovery of a Fearsome Prehistoric Whale with Sharp Teeth
Australia: Discovery of a Fearsome Prehistoric Whale with Sharp Teeth
Australian scientists have uncovered the fossil of a prehistoric carnivorous whale, a feared predator that roamed the oceans approximately 26 million years ago, several media outlets reported on Wednesday.
This remarkably well-preserved fossil consists of a skull discovered in 2019 in Surf Coast County, located southwest of Melbourne. The find has allowed Museums Victoria to reconstruct a new species that belongs to a group of ancient whales—distant cousins, and significantly smaller, than today’s baleen whales.
According to researchers at the museum, this marks the fourth species of its kind to be identified to date.
The analysis of this fossil provides valuable insight into the evolution of cetaceans, revealing how these marine creatures have grown, changed in morphology, and adapted over time to better survive in their aquatic environment.
