[img]http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/3496/100630techgiant20whaleg.jpg[/img]
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The massive skull and jaw of a 13-million-year-old sperm whale has been discovered eroding from the windblown sands of a coastal desert of Peru.
The extinct cousin of the modern sperm whale is the first fossil to rival modern sperm whales in size — although this is a very different beast, say whale evolution experts.
"We could see it from very far," said paleontologist Olivier Lambert of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France, who led the team which found the fossil.
The[B] giant 3-meter (10-foot) skull[/B] of what's been dubbed Leviathan melvillei (in honor of the author of "Moby Dick") was found with [B]teeth in its top and bottom jaws up to 36 centimeters (14 inches) long. [/B]The discovery is reported in the July 1 issue of the journal Nature[I].[/I]
Living sperm whales have teeth only in their lower jaws and are specialized to feed on giant squid, Lambert explained. They suck down squid like large spaghetti noodles rather than catch the prey with their teeth. The much toothier fossil sperm whales, however, may have eaten more like a outsized-orca, or killer whale: chomping great big bites out of its prey.
"These are very unusual attributes," said cetacea evolution expert Ewan Fordyce of the University of Otago in New Zealand. "It's remarkably big. That is unexpected."
Another sign that this ancient whale had a killer bite is the large hole in the skull to accommodate a large jaw muscle.
"This was a hunting predator that took chunks out of prey," said Fordyce.
It most likely fed on baleen whales, Lambert and his colleagues report, and lived in the same waters as the monster-sized shark called Carcharocles megalodon[I].[/I]
To learn more about its eating habits, Fordyce said it would be useful to look at the microscopic wear patterns on the teeth. If the wear lines are horizontal, it probably sucked in prey like today's whales. But if the wear lines are vertical, it would suggest a biter, like the orca.
"Many fossil sperm whales have been found in the past," said Lambert. "Most have been much smaller than modern sperm whales."
There have also been discoveries of isolated large sperm whale teeth fossils before, said Lambert. Those made it clear to researchers there was a bigger animal out there waiting to be found. And now they have found it.
"I think it's a great advance," said Fordyce of the discovery.
The fossil appears to also be a distant relative of today's sperm whales, said Fordyce, rather than a direct ancestor.
[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38021150/ns/technology_and_science-science/?GT1=43001[/url]
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Holy shit. I can't wait until they release photos of the skull. This thing was huge. 10 foot long skull, 14 inch long teeth, this thing could have dueled it out with the megalodon. Makes you wonder what else the ocean has hiding in its depths.
Holy shit, that's massive.
That's a fucking huge whale.
:crossarms:
What a whale of a story!
It would be so awesome if one of these were alive today.
That's amazing. Makes you wonder if there really is a giant sea serpent that lived long ago.
Moby dick, ye white whale
When I read this, the first thing that came to mind was the 'Bloop' sound.
[QUOTE=Overwatch 7;23034596]When I read this, the first thing that came to mind was the 'Bloop' sound.[/QUOTE]
Oh shit, that's right. The odds of one of these things still ticking are extremely thin. We have a better chance of a megalodon being carried ashore by mermaids than we do finding a living one of these. Whales need oxygen to live, which means they have to surface. We would have found one by now.
[quote]sperm whale[/quote]
:v:
That's fucking badass
This is what made bloop.
I saw this in the paper but only read the part: "Giant sperm". Was confused.
Imagine if they got the technology together to dredge the seafloor. Imagine what they'd find.
thinking about something so big is terrifying really
I'm terrified of whales already
[QUOTE=Fire Kracker;23034905]thinking about something so big is terrifying really
I'm terrified of whales already[/QUOTE]
The girl in your avatar has some nice tits.
Holy god damn, that's badass
[QUOTE=Heartboy;23035002]The girl in your avatar has some nice tits.[/QUOTE]
It's good to see you have your priorities straight in a thread about whales.
[quote]It would be so awesome if one of these were alive today. [/quote]
NO. I could never go out to sea. EVER. :ohdear:
That would be so awesome if that thing was still alive and you could tame it like a killer whale and ride it and shit. Wooooooo
[QUOTE=evilweazel;23035044]Dear badass animals,
Stop getting extinct it's really fucking boring for us.
regards,
Humanity[/QUOTE]
The Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) was thought to be extinct for more than 60 million years until a live specimen was captured in 1938. We now know that there is a small but definitely surviving population of these ancient fish in very deep waters off eastern Africa and another was recently discovered off Indonesia. Who's to say that Megalodon does not also survive?
if this was alive the Japs would have a field day
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Racism" - TH89))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=krakadict;23035384]if this was alive the Japs would have a field day[/QUOTE]
it would mistake their boats for whales and eat it
Blue whales are still much, much, larger. The thing noteworthy about this is that it eats really big food
It would eat them. Not the other way round.
Edit: damnit, ninja'd again.
[QUOTE=Uberslug;23035545]Blue whales are still much, much, larger. The thing noteworthy about this is that it eats really big food[/QUOTE]
ye
it's a whale that eats other whales instead of crayfish or things like that