Paleontologists on Wednesday unveiled the fossilized bones of one of the strangest whales in history.
The 39-million-year-old leviathan, called Perucetus, may have weighed about 200 tons, as much as a blue whale — by far the heaviest animal known, until now.
While blue whales are sleek, fast-swimming divers, Perucetus was a very different beast.
Some experts cautioned that more bones would have to be discovered before a firm estimate of Perucetus’s weight could be made.
“It’s clear from this discovery that there are so many other ways of being a whale that we have not yet discovered.”
Persons:
Perucetus, ”, Nicholas Pyenson
Organizations:
Wednesday, Smithsonian National Museum of