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19-Million-Year-Old Fossil Unveils New Insights into Baleen Whale Evolution

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29 Dec. 2023 09:01 a.m.

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Most mammals have teeth in their mouths. But the baleen whale is a giant of the ocean. There are strange exceptions. Because instead of having teeth This type of whale has “baleen” which is a layer of fine keratin that resembles large hairs. They use it to filter tiny krill out of the water. They are the largest animals ever to exist. The record holder is the blue whale. Or its scientific name is Balaenoptera musculus. It can be up to 30 meters long, considered longer than a basketball court. and throughout the evolutionary history of baleen whales The researchers revealed that although the small baleen whale is about 5 meters long, it is smaller than other baleen whales. But it is still considered large compared to most other animals.

recently There is a report by a group of paleontologists published in the Journal of the Royal Society of London, Issue B. Education in biological sciences Presenting an analysis of the fossilized remains of the lower jaw of a 19-million-year-old baleen whale found on the banks of the Murray River in South Australia, Australia, more than 100 years ago, providing interesting information. The fossil is thought to be that of a baleen whale, which was approximately 9 meters long, making it a new record holder from a time period of 19 million years ago.

The most important thing about this fossil find is from the southern hemisphere. Shows that at least in the southern part of the world Whales also grew in size much faster than previously proposed theories. Because the previous statistics indicated that whales evolved in the early days. Its length is only 6 meters. Additionally, the baleen whale’s large body requires enormous amounts of energy. When they die, these whales provide many nutrients to the deep-sea ecosystem.

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