Peruvian fossil challenges blue whales for size (BBC)

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent
@BBCAmos

Scientists have identified a new candidate for the heaviest ever animal on Planet Earth.

It's an ancient, long-extinct whale that would have tipped the scales at close to 200 tonnes.

Only some of the very biggest blue whale specimens might have rivalled its heft, researchers say.

The creature's fossilised bones were dug up in the desert in southern Peru, so it has been given the name Perucetus colossus.

Dating of the sediments around the remains suggests it lived about 39 million years ago.

"The fossils were actually discovered 13 years ago, but their size and shape meant it took three years just to get them to Lima (the capital of Peru), where they've been studied ever since," said Dr Eli Amson, a co-worker on the discovery team led by palaeontologist Dr Mario Urbina.
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more: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66384632