Latest news with #ancientwhale
The Independent
a day ago
- Science
- The Independent
Shark-like prehistoric whale with razor-sharp teeth discovered off Australia
Fossils unearthed along Victoria 's Surf Coast have led to the discovery of an ancient whale species with special adaptations for hunting, including large eyes and sharp teeth, shedding light on early marine mammal evolution. The species has been named Janjucetus dullardi after Victoria local resident Ross Dullard, who found the ancient whale's fossil fragments in 2019. Janjucetus dullardi is one of their earliest cousins of modern whales and roamed the seas around 26 million years ago, say researchers from Museums Victoria Research Institute. Unlike the modern gentle giants, Janjucetus dullardi w as a fast, sharp-toothed predator with a compact body about the size of a dolphin built for hunting, according to a new study published in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 'It's essentially a little whale with big eyes and a mouth full of sharp, slicing teeth ... Imagine the shark-like version of a baleen whale – small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless,' said Ruairidh Duncan, lead author of the study, The prehistoric whale had a short snout, large forward-facing eyes about the size of tennis balls and sharp slicing teeth, researchers say. The early whale ancestor would have been a compact, yet fearsome sight in the warm, shallow seas of ancient Victoria, scientists noted. The findings offer insight into the early evolution of baleen whales – the filter-feeding giant mammals cruising through modern oceans. It also sheds more light on the prehistoric region, now in modern-day Australia, which scientists say was 'once a cradle' for some of the most unusual whales in history. Researchers made the new species discovery based on a partial skull fossil with attached ear bone found in June 2019 by Victoria resident Mr Dullard while walking along the beach. After recognising its scientific importance, the Victoria resident donated the fossil to Museums Victoria, where researchers carefully studied it in detail. 'This kind of public discovery and its reporting to the museum is discovery has unlocked an entire chapter of whale evolution we've never seen before. It's a reminder that world-changing fossils can be found in your own backyard,' said study co-author Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator at Museums Victoria Research Institute. Scientists found that the fragments belonged to a juvenile specimen just over two metres long. They concluded that it belonged to a group of early whales known as mammalodontids that lived around 30 to 23 million years ago. The latest find marks the third known mammalodontid species from Victoria, and only the fourth found worldwide. It is also the first of its kind to preserve teeth and inner ear structures in detail, revealing how early whales fed, heard, moved and behaved in the water. Using advanced CT scans of the ear bones, researchers hope to further understand how the early species sensed its environment for hunting and navigating the oceans. '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,' Dr Fitzgerald said. '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!' he added,
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Shark-like prehistoric whale with razor-sharp teeth discovered off Australia
Fossils unearthed along Victoria's Surf Coast have led to the discovery of an ancient whale species with special adaptations for hunting, including large eyes and sharp teeth, shedding light on early marine mammal evolution. The species has been named Janjucetus dullardi after Victoria local resident Ross Dullard, who found the ancient whale's fossil fragments in 2019. Janjucetus dullardi is one of their earliest cousins of modern whales and roamed the seas around 26 million years ago, say researchers from Museums Victoria Research Institute. Unlike the modern gentle giants, Janjucetus dullardi was a fast, sharp-toothed predator with a compact body about the size of a dolphin built for hunting, according to a new study published in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 'It's essentially a little whale with big eyes and a mouth full of sharp, slicing teeth ... Imagine the shark-like version of a baleen whale – small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless,' said Ruairidh Duncan, lead author of the study, The prehistoric whale had a short snout, large forward-facing eyes about the size of tennis balls and sharp slicing teeth, researchers say. The early whale ancestor would have been a compact, yet fearsome sight in the warm, shallow seas of ancient Victoria, scientists noted. The findings offer insight into the early evolution of baleen whales – the filter-feeding giant mammals cruising through modern oceans. It also sheds more light on the prehistoric region, now in modern-day Australia, which scientists say was 'once a cradle' for some of the most unusual whales in history. Researchers made the new species discovery based on a partial skull fossil with attached ear bone found in June 2019 by Victoria resident Mr Dullard while walking along the beach. After recognising its scientific importance, the Victoria resident donated the fossil to Museums Victoria, where researchers carefully studied it in detail. 'This kind of public discovery and its reporting to the museum is discovery has unlocked an entire chapter of whale evolution we've never seen before. It's a reminder that world-changing fossils can be found in your own backyard,' said study co-author Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator at Museums Victoria Research Institute. Scientists found that the fragments belonged to a juvenile specimen just over two metres long. They concluded that it belonged to a group of early whales known as mammalodontids that lived around 30 to 23 million years ago. The latest find marks the third known mammalodontid species from Victoria, and only the fourth found worldwide. It is also the first of its kind to preserve teeth and inner ear structures in detail, revealing how early whales fed, heard, moved and behaved in the water. Using advanced CT scans of the ear bones, researchers hope to further understand how the early species sensed its environment for hunting and navigating the oceans. '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,' Dr Fitzgerald said. '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!' he added, Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
2 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
New evidence suggests tiny prehistoric whales only lived in one place
An ancient whale species, Janjucetus dullardi, has been discovered from fossils unearthed along Australia 's Surf Coast. Named after local resident Ross Dullard, who found the fossil fragments in 2019, the species roamed the seas of what is now Victoria approximately 26 million years ago. Unlike modern filter-feeding whales, Janjucetus dullardi was a fast, sharp-toothed predator, about the size of a dolphin, with large eyes and a compact body. The discovery, based on a partial skull and ear bone, offers significant insights into the early evolution of marine mammals, particularly baleen whales. This find is the third mammalodontid species from Victoria and the first to preserve detailed teeth and inner ear structures. Prehistoric whale with razor-sharp teeth and tennis ball-sized eyes discovered off Australia
The Independent
2 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Prehistoric whale with razor-sharp teeth and tennis ball-sized eyes discovered off Australia
Fossils unearthed along Victoria 's Surf Coast have led to the discovery of an ancient whale species with special adaptations for hunting, including large eyes and sharp teeth, shedding light on early marine mammal evolution. The species has been named Janjucetus dullardi after Victoria local resident Ross Dullard, who found the ancient whale's fossil fragments in 2019. Janjucetus dullardi is one of their earliest cousins of modern whales and roamed the seas around 26 million years ago, say researchers from Museums Victoria Research Institute. Unlike the modern gentle giants, Janjucetus dullardi w as a fast, sharp-toothed predator with a compact body about the size of a dolphin built for hunting, according to a new study published in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 'It's essentially a little whale with big eyes and a mouth full of sharp, slicing teeth ... Imagine the shark-like version of a baleen whale – small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless,' said Ruairidh Duncan, lead author of the study, The prehistoric whale had a short snout, large forward-facing eyes about the size of tennis balls and sharp slicing teeth, researchers say. The early whale ancestor would have been a compact, yet fearsome sight in the warm, shallow seas of ancient Victoria, scientists noted. The findings offer insight into the early evolution of baleen whales – the filter-feeding giant mammals cruising through modern oceans. It also sheds more light on the prehistoric region, now in modern-day Australia, which scientists say was 'once a cradle' for some of the most unusual whales in history. Researchers made the new species discovery based on a partial skull fossil with attached ear bone found in June 2019 by Victoria resident Mr Dullard while walking along the beach. After recognising its scientific importance, the Victoria resident donated the fossil to Museums Victoria, where researchers carefully studied it in detail. 'This kind of public discovery and its reporting to the museum is discovery has unlocked an entire chapter of whale evolution we've never seen before. It's a reminder that world-changing fossils can be found in your own backyard,' said study co-author Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator at Museums Victoria Research Institute. Scientists found that the fragments belonged to a juvenile specimen just over two metres long. They concluded that it belonged to a group of early whales known as mammalodontids that lived around 30 to 23 million years ago. The latest find marks the third known mammalodontid species from Victoria, and only the fourth found worldwide. It is also the first of its kind to preserve teeth and inner ear structures in detail, revealing how early whales fed, heard, moved and behaved in the water. Using advanced CT scans of the ear bones, researchers hope to further understand how the early species sensed its environment for hunting and navigating the oceans. '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,' Dr Fitzgerald said. '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!' he added,
ABC News
3 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Victorian fossil leads to discovery of new species of ancient baleen whale
Researchers have hailed the discovery of an ancient whale species in Australia's south-east as a milestone in marine science. Found near Jan Juc on Victoria's Surf Coast in 2019, the fossil of a baleen whale has today been described as the Janjucetus dullardi — an "entirely new species of prehistoric whale". "This is a whale that was unknown to science," Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the Museums Victoria Research Institute told the ABC. "What is really significant about this new species of fossil whale is that it actually is an ancient ancestor of today's baleen whales, and that includes gentle giants like humpback whale and blue whale." The Janjucetus dullardi lived 25 million years ago and belongs to an extinct genus of baleen whales — which instead of teeth, have baleens, or hard plates, attached to their jaws — called Mammalodontids. But unlike others in the family, the new species named on Wednesday has big eyes, sharp teeth and is just over 2 metres in length, a tiny size by whale standards. Scientists behind the study said it appeared the Janjucetus dullardi was built for hunting and would have been a fearsome predator in ancient Victorian seas. "It's essentially a little whale with big eyes and a mouth full of sharp, slicing teeth … small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless," said Ruairidh Dunac, a PhD student at Monash University. The discovery marks just the third mammalodontid species to be identified in Victoria following discoveries in 2006 and 1939, and the fourth worldwide, but it's the first time an ancient whale fossil has been found with both teeth and inner structures preserved in detail. Mammalodontids lived only during the Oligocene Epoch, a geological period that lasted from about 33 to 23 million years ago. Despite the three named species, most mammalodontid material remains undescribed. It's the first time in nearly two decades that a new species of fossil whale has been named from Australia. Researchers say the condition of the fossil will improve understanding of the behaviours of early whales, particularly how they adapted to warmer oceans in ancient times, which may then help predict how modern marine ecosystems will adapt to climate change in coming years. The Jan Juc Formation south-west of Victoria's Torquay has yielded several fossils of aquatic mammals in the past, with the coastal stretch around the region earning international recognition for early whale evolution. Dr Fitzgerald said contributions from the community underpinned most breakthroughs in paleontology. "These discoveries often rely on the keen eyes and generosity of members of the public, in bringing to the attention of museums fossils they might find while out there beachcombing or looking amongst rocks in parts of Australia where there are fossils," he said. "We now want to know when and where they began their story and ultimately what led to their extinction." The Janjucetus dullardi was found by local resident Ross Dullard during a walk along the beach at Jan Juc, before he donated it to Museums Victoria. Dr Fitzgerald said the whale was unique to Australia.
