Paleontologists digging in the Ocucaje Desert of Peru have made a huge discovery: a complete skull of a “ancient” whale that once dominated the prehistoric diet list.
"The most unbelievable thing is that the skull is in excellent condition for preservation," said Rodolfo Salas Gismondi, chief of paleontology at Peru's National University of San Marcos (UNMSM), at a groundbreaking ceremony.
Salas went on to describe it as a first-class hunter who was at the top of its diet at the time, probably eating fish and penguins. He told Reuters, "It was a sea monster. When he looks at his food, he is doing a lot of damage. ”
Paleontologists led by Mario Urbina first discovered a 36-year-old fossil record by the end of 2021 in the Peruvian Desert of Ocucaje, 215 miles south of Lima, in the construction of the Okuma rock.
In the meantime - pending a scientific review - paleontologists have dubbed it the "Ocucaje Predator." The Ocucaje Predator is larger than any other ancient whale recorded, say paleontologists and has much larger teeth.
These findings are very important because there are no other similar examples found in the world, ”explains Urbina.
Salas supported Urbina. He said: “This is a wonderful achievement because of its great preservation. This animal was one of the largest predators of its time.
The whale's “time” would look very different from ours. Today, the Ocucaje Desert is a flat, brown plateau. But millions of years ago, it was a shallow ocean full of sea creatures. Paleontologists have found other fossils there, including four-legged whales, dolphins, and sharks.
But this whale may have been high on the seafood list. Its toothed skull is four feet [4 m] long, suggesting that the whale has at least 39 feet (39 m) in length. Paleontologists believe that it is part of the basilosaurus family, a class meaning the king lizard
In life, it almost looked like a giant snake, melting deep in the ocean, but it had wings near its head. Paleontologists believe that it sank when it sank, where it was buried by the earth and preserved for millions of years.
Back at this time, fossilization conditions were very good in Ocucaje, explains Salas.
Like other cetaceans, the Ocucaje Predator probably evolved from mammals. According to Live Science, over a million years they were in the water before turning to life on the water 55 million years ago.
Therefore, these findings are very important - they can help paleontologists better understand the life (and death) of the ancient ocean.
In the introduction to the fossils, Niels Valencia Chacón, director of the university's Natural History Museum, also highlighted twenty years of Salas and Urbina's work. Valencia said their efforts had helped UNMSM to have the best collection of fossils in South America.
"This sample represents a view of the past," Valencia said, adding, "We think biodiversity is the number of species, but often it is not really true, because biodiversity has many components, one of which is history. Of biodiversity."
The impressive skull of the “sea monster” will be on display at the “New Basilosaurus of Ocucaje” temporary exhibition at the Lima Museum of Natural History.
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