Fossilised Remains of 36-Million-year-old Whale Unearthed in Peruvian Desert
2 years, 9 months ago

Fossilised Remains of 36-Million-year-old Whale Unearthed in Peruvian Desert

News 18  

Paleontologists on Thursday unveiled the fossilized remains of an ancient whale that inhabited the seas 36 million years ago, found last year in a Peruvian desert. “We have presented the new Peruvian basilosaurus, it is the complete skull of an archaic whale that lived 36 million years ago,” paleontologist Mario Urbina, head of the team that discovered the skeleton, told AFP. “This animal was one of the largest predators of its time.” “At that time the Peruvian sea was warm,” added Salas-Gismondi, who heads the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Natural History Museum in Lima. “Thanks to this type of fossil, we can reconstruct the history of the Peruvian sea.” The first cetaceans, like the basilosaurus, evolved from land animals some 55 million years ago.

Million Sea Ago Lima Whale Peruvian Cetaceans Urbina  peruvian  urbina  million  whale  cetaceans  desert  unearthed  remains  ocucaje  basilosaurus  ago  36millionyearold  sea  fossilised

History of this topic

Scientists discover new species of titanosaur that dates back to 75 million years ago
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Scientists discover new species of titanosaur that dates back to 75 million years ago

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The sauropod was nearly 50 feet long, according to Portuguese paleontologist Pedro Mocho Alive during …

Scientists discover rare ’Jurassic’ fossil of creature from 166 million years ago, learn secrets of mammals’ evolution
4 months, 4 weeks ago

Scientists discover rare ’Jurassic’ fossil of creature from 166 million years ago, learn secrets of mammals’ evolution

Live Mint  

Mammals are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates that give birth to live young and feed them with milk. Known as one of the most adaptable animals on the Earth, mammals are found on every continent and in every range in size, be it tiny bumblebee bats, to humans, or giant blue whales. Recently, scientists discovered two rare fossils in Scotland's …

Gigantic marine reptile identified from fossil found by 11-year-old girl and father
8 months ago

Gigantic marine reptile identified from fossil found by 11-year-old girl and father

ABC  

In short: A fossil jawbone that was found on an English beach by an 11-year-old girl and her father has been identified as an icthyosaur. A fossil jawbone found by a British girl and her father on a beach in Somerset, England, belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating back to 202 million years ago that appears to have been …

Fossils of world's largest dolphin are discovered in Amazon - ancient creature was more than 11 feet long when it swam the oceans over 16 million years ago
9 months ago

Fossils of world's largest dolphin are discovered in Amazon - ancient creature was more than 11 feet long when it swam the oceans over 16 million years ago

Daily Mail  

Remains of the world's largest dolphin have been uncovered in the Peruvian Amazon, revealing the mammal measured up to 11 feet long. The remains of an ancient species distantly related to the rare and endangered river dolphin have been discovered in the Peruvian Amazon. Paleontologists at Switzerland's University of Zurich found the fossils suggested the ancient creature was distantly related …

19-million-year-old fossil jaw bone hints the biggest whales first evolved somewhere unexpected
11 months, 1 week ago

19-million-year-old fossil jaw bone hints the biggest whales first evolved somewhere unexpected

The Hindu  

Baleen whales are the titans of the ocean, the largest animals to have ever lived. The ‘missing years’ of whale evolution Various groups of toothed whales terrorised the ocean for millions of years, including some that were the ancestors of the toothless baleen whales. Together with other fossils from Peru in South America, this suggests larger baleen whales may have …

Fossil discovery may be one of the oldest, smallest aquatic whales found in Africa, study finds
1 year, 4 months ago

Fossil discovery may be one of the oldest, smallest aquatic whales found in Africa, study finds

CNN  

Editor’s note: Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. “The discovery of the new basilosaurid whale, Tutcetus rayanensis, has brought about a substantial shift in our understanding of cetacean life histories during the Eocene epoch,” said lead study author Mohammed S. Antar, a paleontologist at the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center in Egypt, via email. Paleontologists Abdullah Gohar, Mohamed …

Ancient whale in the Peruvian desert likely to be heaviest animal ever
1 year, 4 months ago

Ancient whale in the Peruvian desert likely to be heaviest animal ever

Hindustan Times  

There could be a new contender for heaviest animal to ever live. “It’s just exciting to see such a giant animal that’s so different from anything we know," said Hans Thewissen, a paleontologist at Northeast Ohio Medical University who had no role in the research. The massive fossils, which are 39 million years old, “are unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” …

36-million-year-old whale fossil found in Peruvian desert
2 years, 9 months ago

36-million-year-old whale fossil found in Peruvian desert

Hindustan Times  

Paleontologists on Thursday unveiled the fossilized remains of an ancient whale that inhabited the seas 36 million years ago, found last year in a Peruvian desert. The fossil was found at the end of 2021 in the Ocucaje Desert - the desolate landscape was a shallow sea millions of years ago. AFP "We have presented the new Peruvian basilosaurus, it …

Giant marine reptile skull discovery reveals new evolutionary theories
3 years ago

Giant marine reptile skull discovery reveals new evolutionary theories

CNN  

CNN — The discovery of a giant marine reptile skull in the United States has revealed new theories about the speed of evolution and how quickly the process can produce diversity. The skull analysis was part of a larger research effort undertaken by an international team in order to understand how quickly body size evolved in ichthyosaurs when compared to …

Two new dinosaur species, as big as a blue whale, discovered in China
3 years, 4 months ago

Two new dinosaur species, as big as a blue whale, discovered in China

CNN  

CNN — Scientists have confirmed the discovery of two massive new dinosaur species in northwest China – some of the first vertebrates uncovered in the region, according to a new study published Thursday. The researchers have since determined thattwo of those specimens were from previously unknown species, which they have named Silutitan sinensis – “silu” meaning “Silk Road” in Mandarin …

Paleontologists Trace Evolution of Whales, Find Fossils in Indian Sub-continent
4 years, 1 month ago

Paleontologists Trace Evolution of Whales, Find Fossils in Indian Sub-continent

News 18  

About 50 million years ago, the Indian subcontinent was drifting closer to Asia and squeezing out the Tethys Sea along its northern fringes. Mishra and his colleague Hans Thewissen, a Dutch-American palaeontologist, looked around bright red and yellow rocks in Kutch belonging to a geological epoch called the Eocene which was a time of balmy global weather. In the 1980s …

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