This ancient whale likely sucked prey into its mouth like a giant vacuum cleaner
Scientists have found a new species of whale ancestor — a toothy cetacean that sucked prey into its mouth and likely hunted at the bottom of the seafloor. The 36-million-year-old fossil gives us new information on how whales evolved, showing, for example, that the marine animals likely lost their hind limbs more recently than was previously thought.
The fossil, which is described in a study published today in Current Biology, was first discovered in 2010 in Peru by paleontologist Mario Urbina of the Museo de Historia Natural. It’s identified as the oldest known member of a group of whales called mysticetes, which includes modern baleen whales, according to the study. Today, these whales — like the blue whale or the humpback whale —…
