Scientists unearth 'cute' yet fearsome ancient whale from Australia
Museums Victoria pieced together the species from an unusually well-preserved skull fossil found on Victoria's Surf Coast in 2019.
Scientists discovered a "fast, sharp-toothed predator" that would have been about the size of a dolphin.
"It's essentially a little whale with big eyes and a mouth full of sharp, slicing teeth," said researcher Ruairidh Duncan.
"Imagine the shark-like version of a baleen whale – small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless."
The skull belonged to a group of prehistoric whales known as the mammalodontids, distant smaller relatives of today's filter-feeding whales.
It is the fourth mammalodontid species ever discovered, Museums Victoria said.
"This fossil opens a window into how ancient whales grew and changed, and how evolution shaped their bodies as they adapted to life in the sea," said palaeontologist Erich Fitzgerald, who co-authored the study.
Victoria's Surf Coast lies on the Jan Juc Formation – a geological feature dating to the Oligocene epoch between 23 and 30 million years ago.
A string of rare fossils have been unearthed along the scenic stretch of beach, a renowned site for the study of early whale evolution.
"This region was once a cradle for some of the most unusual whales in history, and we're only just beginning to uncover their stories," said Fitzgerald.
"We're entering a new phase of discovery.
"This region is rewriting the story of how whales came to rule the oceans, with some surprising plot twists."
The species was named Janjucetus dullardi, a nod to local Ross Dullard who stumbled across the skull while strolling the beach in 2019.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Seals sing 'otherworldly' songs structured like nursery rhymes
During the spring breeding season, male leopard seals dive underwater and perform their songs for two minutes before returning to the surface for air.— BRIAN/Pixabay When male leopard seals dive down into icy Antarctic waters, they sing songs structured like nursery rhymes in performances that can last up to 13 hours, scientists said July 31. The Australian-led team of researchers compared the complexity of the songs composed by the big blubbery mammals to those of other animals - as well as human musicians like the Beatles and Mozart. Lucinda Chambers, a bioacoustics PhD student at Australia's University of New South Wales, said that people are often surprised when they hear the "otherworldly" hoots and trills sung by leopard seals. "It kind of sounds like sound effects from an '80s sci-fi" movie, said the lead author of a new study in the journal Scientific Reports. During the spring breeding season, male leopard seals dive underwater and perform their songs for two minutes before returning to the surface for air. They then repeat this performance for up to 13 hours a day, according to the study. The researchers determined that all leopard seals share the same set of five "notes" which are impossible to distinguish between individuals. However each seal arranges these notes in a unique way to compose their own personal song. "We theorise that they're using that structure as a way to broadcast their individual identity, kind of like shouting their name out into the void," Chambers said. The researchers believe the males use these songs to woo potential female mates - and ward off rivals. 'Songbirds of the ocean' The team studied recordings of 26 seals captured by study co-author Tracey Rogers off the coast of Eastern Antarctica throughout the 1990s. "They're like the songbirds of the Southern Ocean," Rogers, who is also from the University of New South Wales, said in a statement. "During the breeding season, if you drop a hydrophone into the water anywhere in the region, you'll hear them singing." The team analysed how random the seals' sequences of notes were, finding that their songs were less predictable than the calls of humpback whales or the whistles of dolphins. But they were still more predictable than the more complex music of the Beatles or Mozart. "They fall into the ballpark of human nursery rhymes," Chambers said. This made sense, because the songs need to be simple enough so that each seal can remember their composition to perform it every day, she explained. She compared it to how "nursery rhymes have to be predictable enough that a child can memorise them". But each seal song also needs to be unpredictable enough to stand out from those of the other males. Leopard seals, which are the apex predator in Antarctic waters, swim alone and cover vast distances. They likely evolved their particular kind of song so that their message travels long distances, the researchers theorised. Varying pitch or frequency might not travel as far in their environment, Chambers said. Female seals also sing sometimes, though the scientists do not know why. Chambers suggested it could be to teach their pups how to sing - exactly how this talent is passed down is also a mystery. But she added that this behaviour has never been observed in the wild. The females could also just be communicating with each other, she said. – AFP
The Star
9 hours ago
- The Star
Scientists find surprising sex reversal in Australian birds
SYDNEY: Scientists have documented a surprising rate of sex reversal in wild Australian birds, a phenomenon that could be explained by rising pollution or other environmental triggers. A study of five common Australian species, including kookaburras, magpies and lorikeets, found around six per cent of birds had the chromosomes of one sex but the reproductive organs of another. The findings indicated a surprisingly high number of birds had reversed their sex after birth, said researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast. "This indicates that sex determination in wild birds is more fluid than we thought, and can persist into adulthood," said study co-author Dominique Potvin. The study performed DNA tests on almost 500 birds. The overwhelming majority of sex reversals involved genetically female birds growing male gonads. "We also discovered a genetically male kookaburra who was reproductively active with large follicles and a distended oviduct, indicating recent egg production," said Potvin. Sex reversal is well known in certain species of reptile and fish but is thought to be rare in wild birds and mammals. Scientists have documented how pollutants and even warm temperatures can trigger sex reversal in frogs. The cause of sex reversal in wild birds was not clear, the University of the Sunshine Coast study said. But it could be due to environmental factors, such as hormone-disrupting chemicals building up in wild areas. "Understanding how and why sex reversal occurs is vital for conservation and for improving the accuracy of bird research," added Potvin. The study was published this week in peer-reviewed journal Biology Letters. - AFP
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Malay Mail
Scientists unearth ‘cute' but fearsome ancient whale
SYDNEY, Aug 13 — Australian scientists have discovered a razor-toothed whale that prowled the seas 26 million years ago, saying today the species was 'deceptively cute' but a fearsome predator. Museums Victoria pieced together the species from an unusually well-preserved skull fossil found on Victoria's Surf Coast in 2019. Scientists discovered a 'fast, sharp-toothed predator' that would have been about the size of a dolphin. 'It's essentially a little whale with big eyes and a mouth full of sharp, slicing teeth,' said researcher Ruairidh Duncan. 'Imagine the shark-like version of a baleen whale—small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless.' The skull belonged to a group of prehistoric whales known as the mammalodontids, distant smaller relatives of today's filter-feeding whales. It is the fourth mammalodontid species ever discovered, Museums Victoria said. 'This fossil opens a window into how ancient whales grew and changed, and how evolution shaped their bodies as they adapted to life in the sea,' said palaeontologist Erich Fitzgerald, who co-authored the study. Victoria's Surf Coast lies on the Jan Juc Formation—a geological feature dating to the Oligocene epoch between 23 and 30 million years ago. A string of rare fossils have been unearthed along the scenic stretch of beach, a renowned site for the study of early whale evolution. 'This region was once a cradle for some of the most unusual whales in history, and we're only just beginning to uncover their stories,' said Fitzgerald. 'We're entering a new phase of discovery. 'This region is rewriting the story of how whales came to rule the oceans, with some surprising plot twists.' The species was named Janjucetus dullardi, a nod to local Ross Dullard who stumbled across the skull while strolling the beach in 2019. It was described in the peer-reviewed Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. — AFP
