This Massive Skull Belongs to a Prehistoric Sperm Whale

And it’s telling us a whole lot about the evolution of modern day sperm whales.

Transcript

00:00This is a dig site in a desert in Peru, but the area wasn't always dry and arid.

00:08Around 7 million years ago, the area was once a vast ocean, teeming with life, and these

00:13paleontologists have just discovered signs of one of those creatures.

00:17This is what experts say is the skull of a prehistoric sperm whale, with its teeth and

00:21part of its jaw still intact.

00:22The whole thing is around 4.3 feet long, and the creature it belonged to stretched some

00:2718 feet, and is not only telling us a lot about the area it was found in, but the skull

00:31is also providing clues about the evolution of the modern day sperm whale.

00:35This is Aldo Benitez Palomino, one of the paleontological researchers studying the specimen.

00:40Here's what he had to say about it.

00:41This animal is super interesting, because unlike current sperm whales that only feed

00:44on squid or small fish, this animal has all of the features of a predator, a very strong

00:49bite and very developed teeth.

00:51Researchers haven't yet identified what else these ancient whales might have fed on, but

00:54they say this is the first major clue, as it's the first specimen with complete teeth

00:57they've ever found.

00:58The discovery was made by researchers with the Museum of Natural History of the Universidad

01:02Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, and is currently on display in Lima's Natural History Museum.