In Peru, skull of ‘marine monster’ points to fearsome ancient predator

LIMA, March 17 (Reuters) – Paleontologists have unearthed the cranium of a ferocious marine predator, an historical ancestor of modern-day whales, which as soon as lived in a prehistoric ocean that lined half of what’s now Peru, scientists introduced on Thursday.

The roughly 36-million-year-old well-preserved cranium was dug up intact final yr from the bone-dry rocks of Peru’s southern Ocucaje desert, with rows of lengthy, pointy enamel, Rodolfo Salas, chief of paleontology at Peru’s Nationwide College of San Marcos, informed reporters at a information convention.

Scientists suppose the traditional mammal was a basilosaurus, a part of the aquatic cetacean household, whose modern descendents embody whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Basilosaurus means “king lizard,” though the animal was not a reptile, although its lengthy physique might need moved like a large snake.

The one-time high predator probably measured some 12 meters (39 toes) lengthy, or concerning the peak of a four-story constructing.

“It was a marine monster,” stated Salas, including the cranium, which has already been placed on show on the college’s museum, could belong to a brand new species of basilosaurus.

“When it was looking for its meals, it certainly did a number of harm,” added Salas.

Scientists consider the primary cetaceans developed from mammals that lived on land some 55 million years in the past, about 10 million years after an asteroid struck simply off what’s now Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, wiping out most life on Earth, together with the dinosaurs.

Salas defined that when the traditional basilosaurus died, its cranium probably sunk to the underside of the ocean ground, the place it was rapidly buried and preserved.

“Again throughout this age, the situations for fossilization have been superb in Ocucaje,” he stated.

Reporting by Marco Aquino and Carlos Valdez; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Enhancing by Karishma Singh

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