Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient #Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever
In their new analysis #paleontologist concluded that #Perucetus probably weighed 60 to 70 tons, which would have made it about the size of a #spermwhale, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s #bluewhale. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/science/giant-whale-perucetus.html
No Paywall: https://archive.ph/fccQ8
Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient #Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/science/giant-whale-perucetus.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZE0.YGhi.r9exWswx4Sdr&smid=url-share by @Carl_Zimmer
Downsizing a heavyweight: factors and methods that revise weight estimates of the giant #fossil whale Perucetus colossus https://peerj.com/articles/16978/
"A new study argues that #Perucetus, an ancient whale species, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s blue #whales."
Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #325: Perucetus Colossus
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#perucetus #perocetuscolossus #whales #cetaceans #extinct #giants #chonk #chonkyboi #nofatshaming #wtf #science #biology #paleontology #comics #webcomics #comic #funfacts #facts #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn
Perucetus and Tutcetus, two recently-discovered ancient whales from the Eocene epoch. Been a good month for whale lovers all around.
This Ancient #Whale May Have Been the Heaviest Animal Ever
#Perucetus a 39-million-year-old 200-ton whale that scientists suspect spent its time in shallow coastal waters like a #manatee. Those early w#hales disappeared after a few million years. They were replaced by a group of entirely aquatic whales called #basilosaurids.
https://archive.ph/7VjWf
What is up with that little tiny head and little tiny fins? Peruvian fossil challenges blue whales for size - https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66384632
That is a silly looking beast!
the dangers of trying to catch up on the hot new science while very tired
#Perucetus vertebrae are so thick, scrolled too fast & deadass thought they put the Venus of Willendorf in the paper as a way to illustrate how chonky this whale is
is anyone else seeing this or
thinking about #Perucetus , #whales , #sauropods , and their sizes, I am reminded of the great series on whale sizes Joe ( @CetologyH ) did on the Cetology Hub blog:
https://callmejoe3.wordpress.com/category/cetacea/size/
It doesn't include Perucetus, (yet?) but it is wonderful for putting Perucetus in context. Some great reads on the sizes of whales and other huge animals.
#fossilFriday , since Joe includes some fossil animals
Perucetus colossus, (Eocene, 39 mya) probably the heaviest animal ever existed. #whales #paleoart #Perucetus
Oh wait, I’ve got more #Perucetus discourse! My old illustration of Bruce Champagne’s Type 5 #SeaSerpent is, perhaps, what an animal in the 20 meter range would look like if it actually weighed over 300 tons!
My contribution to #Perucetus discourse:
A purposefully ignorant reconstruction of the #PygmyRightWhale #Caperea as a weird manatee-whale creature.
Gigantischer Urzeit-Wal enthront den Blauwal. 39 Millionen Jahre alter Meeressäuger könnte schwerstes Tier aller Zeiten gewesen sein. #Urzeitwal #Fossil #Perucetus #Blauwal #schwerstesTier #Palaeontologie #Wal
https://www.scinexx.de/news/biowissen/gigantischer-urzeit-wal-enthront-den-blauwal/
#Perucetus "Could this ancient whale be the heaviest animal ever?" https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02457-0 (via https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/science/whale-fossil-weight.html)
