Scientists have discovered fossils that might have belonged to the heaviest animal in Earth’s history.
The blue whale holds the current record as the largest creature to live on Earth. But a collection of bones found in Peru might break that record.
Researchers recently introduced the whale species in a study in the publication Nature. It is called Perucetus colossus, or “the colossal whale from Peru.” Each back bone, or vertebra, weighs more than 100 kilograms. The animal’s ribs measure nearly 1.4 meters long.
Mario Urbina discovered the bones in 2012. He is with the University of San Marcos’ Natural History Museum in Lima. An international team spent years digging them out from the side of a rocky hill in the Ica desert.