Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient #Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever
In their new analysis #paleontologist concluded that #Perucetus probably weighed 60 to 70 tons, which would have made it about the size of a #spermwhale, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s #bluewhale. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/science/giant-whale-perucetus.html
No Paywall: https://archive.ph/fccQ8

Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient #Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/science/giant-whale-perucetus.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZE0.YGhi.r9exWswx4Sdr&smid=url-share by @Carl_Zimmer

Downsizing a heavyweight: factors and methods that revise weight estimates of the giant #fossil whale Perucetus colossus https://peerj.com/articles/16978/

"A new study argues that #Perucetus, an ancient whale species, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s blue #whales."

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #325: Perucetus Colossus
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#perucetus #perocetuscolossus #whales #cetaceans #extinct #giants #chonk #chonkyboi #nofatshaming #wtf #science #biology #paleontology #comics #webcomics #comic #funfacts #facts #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Perucetus and Tutcetus, two recently-discovered ancient whales from the Eocene epoch. Been a good month for whale lovers all around.

#FossilFriday #perucetus #tutcetus #paleoart #paleontology #whales

This Ancient #Whale May Have Been the Heaviest Animal Ever
#Perucetus a 39-million-year-old 200-ton whale that scientists suspect spent its time in shallow coastal waters like a #manatee. Those early w#hales disappeared after a few million years. They were replaced by a group of entirely aquatic whales called #basilosaurids.
https://archive.ph/7VjWf

Did a couple of doodles of the chonk-whale

#perucetus #perucetuscolossus #speculativebiology #paleoart #art #sketch #whale

Scientists in Peru have discovered the fossils of the heaviest animal to have ever lived, the 150 metric tonne Perucetus colossus.

Thanks yet again for another amazing science find The Guernsey Scientist !

#science #sciencefacts #fossil #fossils #perucetus #perucetuscolossus #peru

the dangers of trying to catch up on the hot new science while very tired

#Perucetus vertebrae are so thick, scrolled too fast & deadass thought they put the Venus of Willendorf in the paper as a way to illustrate how chonky this whale is

is anyone else seeing this or

thinking about #Perucetus , #whales , #sauropods , and their sizes, I am reminded of the great series on whale sizes Joe ( @CetologyH ) did on the Cetology Hub blog:

https://callmejoe3.wordpress.com/category/cetacea/size/

It doesn't include Perucetus, (yet?) but it is wonderful for putting Perucetus in context. Some great reads on the sizes of whales and other huge animals.

#fossilFriday , since Joe includes some fossil animals

What is the best #paleoart of #Perucetus released on Mastodon?

Perucetus colossus, (Eocene, 39 mya) probably the heaviest animal ever existed. #whales #paleoart #Perucetus

Oh wait, I’ve got more #Perucetus discourse! My old illustration of Bruce Champagne’s Type 5 #SeaSerpent is, perhaps, what an animal in the 20 meter range would look like if it actually weighed over 300 tons!

My contribution to #Perucetus discourse:

A purposefully ignorant reconstruction of the #PygmyRightWhale #Caperea as a weird manatee-whale creature.

#Caperea_marginata

Gigantischer Urzeit-Wal enthront den Blauwal. 39 Millionen Jahre alter Meeressäuger könnte schwerstes Tier aller Zeiten gewesen sein. #Urzeitwal #Fossil #Perucetus #Blauwal #schwerstesTier #Palaeontologie #Wal
https://www.scinexx.de/news/biowissen/gigantischer-urzeit-wal-enthront-den-blauwal/

#Perucetus "Could this ancient whale be the heaviest animal ever?" https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02457-0 (via https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/science/whale-fossil-weight.html)