Fossil of the largest animal ever to live on Earth discovered

With an estimated body mass of 85 to 340 tons, the now-extinct Perucetus fossil weighed about as much as or more than the blue whale, once considered the largest living animal, according to Giovanni Bianucci, author of the study published in the journal Nature.

A simulated image of Perucetus colossus in its coastal habitat. Photo: CNN

The partial skeleton of Perucetus, which includes 13 vertebrae, four ribs and a hip bone, is estimated to have been between 17 and 20 metres long. The fossil specimen is shorter than that of a 25-metre-long blue whale, but its bone mass is still likely to exceed that of any known marine mammal or vertebrate, according to the study.

Furthermore, Perucetus could have been two to three times heavier than the blue whale – the species that today weighs a maximum of 149.6 tons.

“Perucetus could have weighed as much as two blue whales, three Argentinosaurs, more than 30 African forest elephants and about 5,000 humans,” said Bianucci, an associate professor of paleontology in the Earth Sciences department at the University of Pisa in Italy.

Perucetus was able to swim slowly due to its massive body mass and undulating swimming style, which was fish-shaped, meaning its flexible body moved in undulating waves from head to tail.

Scientists excavate fossilized vertebrae of Perucetus colossus. Photo: Bianucci

The skeletal structure of Perucetus “was made of extremely dense and strong bone,” Bianucci said. “The type of thickened, heavy bone that Perucetus has is not found in any living cetacean.”

Perucetus's weight and size may have been an evolutionary adaptation to life in shallow, choppy coastal waters, “where a particularly heavy skeleton served to provide stability,” he said.

The discovery is the latest result of a team of researchers who began in 2006 in the Ica Valley in southern Peru “at one of the most important fossil vertebrate assemblages of the Cenozoic Era” that took place about 66 million years ago.

“The enormous bone mass of Perucetus shows that evolution can produce creatures with features far beyond our imagination,” said Bianucci.

Mai Anh (according to CNN)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/phat-hien-hoa-thach-dong-vat-lon-nhat-tung-song-tren-trai-dat-post258903.html