Giant Whale Eating Whale Discovered of Peru Coast
July 1st, 2010 - 11:35 pm ICT by Angela Kaye Mason
July 1 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The skull of an huge sperm whale, which was 12 to 13 million years old, and the largest whale skull fossil ever found, measuring a shocking 10 feet long, was recently discovered off of the coast of Peru. This whale, unlike modern sperm whales, had teeth in both jaws and was likely to have eaten like killer whales, with it’s main food source probably being baleen whales.
The huge skull and jaw of the extinct sperm whale was found in a slight state of erosion from the sands which are blown across the coastal desert of Peru by the winds. It is the first fossil which is believed to rival sperm whales of today in size, but it is not the same animal at all, according to the experts.
The paleontologist which led the team who found the fossil, Olivier Lambert of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France, stated, “We could see it from very far.” It was found with teeth in the top and bottom jaws, which measured up to 14 inches long. The whale which the skull belonged to has been named ‘Leviathan melvillei ‘ (to honor the author of “Moby Dick”, a book about a large whale.)
Today’s sperm whales only have teeth in their bottom jaws, and feed on mostly squid. Rather than using their teeth to catch and hold prey, they suck squid down like spaghetti noodles, according to Lambert. The fossil sperm whales had a mouth full of teeth, however, and may have eaten larger orca, and killer whales.
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Tags: author of moby dick, baleen whales, coast of peru, coastal desert, erosion, food source, fossil, histoire naturelle, jaws, killer whales, million years, paleontologist, paris france, prey, skull, spaghetti noodles, Sperm Whale, sperm whales, squid, top and bottom