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LiveScience
LiveScience
Patrick Pester

Ancient predatory whale with big eyes and razor-sharp teeth was 'deceptively cute'

Australia Erich Fitzgerald Museums Victoria
The newly described Janjucetus dullardi is known from juvenile remains. This illustration depicts a J. dullardi calf with its mother. (Image credit: Artwork by Ruairidh Duncan. Source: Museums Victoria)

Scientists have discovered a "deceptively cute" ancient whale with large eyes and razor-sharp teeth that devoured prey off Australia around 26 million years ago.

The newly discovered Janjucetus dullardi is one of the earliest known cousins of filter-feeding baleen whales, including the gigantic blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). However, J. dullardi was much smaller than its living relatives, with a compact body built for speed.

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