There could be a new contender for heaviest animal to ever live. While today's blue whale has long held the title, scientists have dug up fossils from an ancient giant that could tip the scales.
Researchers described the species — named Perucetus colossus, or “the colossal whale from Peru” — in the journal Nature on Wednesday. Each vertebra weighs over 220 pounds (100 kilograms) and its ribs measure nearly 5 feet (1.4 metres) long.
“It’s just exciting to see such a giant animal that’s so different from anything we know," said Hans Thewissen, a palaeontologist at Northeast Ohio Medical University who had no role in the research.
