Skip to playerSkip to main content
The Geological, Mining, and Metallurgical Institute (INGEMMET) presented the fossil of an 8- to 10-million-year-old cetacean, an ancestor of the porpoise, on Wednesday as part of the National Geology Day commemorations in Lima.

Footage shows staff unveiling the skeleton of the dolphin-like cetacean Lomacetus sp., discovered in the Ocucaje Desert of Peru's Ica province. The find included the skull, vertebrae, ribs, and both humeri.

"In this case, it is the almost complete skeleton of a species of dolphin, as we colloquially call it, but the name we use for this group of cetaceans is porpoise. This porpoise, 'Lomacetus SP'... is approximately 8 million years old," explained Manuel Laime Molina, from the Palaeontology Department at the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute.

"I must highlight that this is one of the most complete skeletons of a fossil porpoise found in South America, and it helps us to learn more about this species. In Peru, it is represented by only one species, the finless porpoise, which is the only species currently living in Peruvian waters. Worldwide, there are about seven species," Molina added.

The palaeontologist noted that the fossil's state of preservation is moderate and that it has altered over time due to erosion, changing from a blackish to a whitish appearance.

"And that is the fate of all fossils, which over time deteriorate on the surface if they are not collected," he said.

The discovery provides new insights into the Late Miocene environment: a shallow but biodiverse sea inhabited by porpoises, ancestral dolphins, and primitive whales, according to local media reports.

Follow us on:
WhatsApp cutt.ly/WhatsAppCFM
https://twitter.com/capitalfmkenya/
https://www.facebook.com/capitalfmkenya
https://www.instagram.com/capitalfmkenya

Subscribe to Capital FM News for More: https://goo.gl/um4AGk

98.4 Capital FM
93.0 Western Kenya
98.5 Nakuru and Nyeri
104.5 Malindi
102.7 Garissa
103.9 Meru
106.5 Kitui
104.9 Voi

#CapitalFmKenya

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:00The history of the Earth is told by fossils and rocks, organized by the Ingemer.
00:05Now we have the fossil of the dolphin Lomacetus SP.
00:30We have a exhibition that is focused on a discovery in this year.
00:43In this case, it is the almost complete skeleton of a kind of dolphin,
00:50as we call it collectively, but the name that we use for this group of cetaceans is Marsopa.
00:58This Marsopa, which is Lomacetus SP, was found in the Stratos Marinos,
01:03from the Pisco, in the desert of Ocucaje, in Ica.
01:08It has approximately an age of 8 million years old.
01:11The state of conservation, we can say that it is moderate.
01:30The bones that correspond to the vertebral after the thoracic,
01:36or after the vertebral of the body,
01:38are a little bit disordered,
01:40because it seems that when the animal died,
01:43it seems that it was attacked or devoured by carroneros.
01:50Parts of the body of the animal were devoured by carroneros,
01:53and that caused this apparent disorder that we see in the skeleton,
01:56from what would be the caja thoracic to the colon.
02:01But even so, I have to rescate that it is one of the most complete skeletons
02:19of a Marsopa fossil found in America,
02:21and that helps us to know a little more about this species of Marsopas.
02:27In the case of Peru, it is represented by one single species,
02:30which is the Marsopa spinos.
02:32It is the only species in the Mar Peruvan currently living.
02:34At the level of the world, there are seven species.
02:37At the level of the world, there are seven species.
02:53We suspect that this dolphin was feeding from small species,
02:57like sardines, because it is the most abundant species
03:00that exists in the Mioceno Tarrio,
03:03and that is adapted to aguas cálidas.
03:06Well, also, the size of the dolphin
03:09supports that idea,
03:10the small pieces and everything,
03:12as it happens with the actual Marsopas,
03:14it is also being alimentated by species.
03:21To give you an idea, when I found this fossil,
03:24I could see your reflection in it.
03:26And now, with the years,
03:29the erosion has left it as you can see.
03:31It is still a fossil fossil,
03:33but it is not the fossil fossil that I once known.
03:36Now it is become a blanquecino
03:38by the disaster that has been in the surface of the Hueso.
03:42If you don't have the images of the Hueso,
03:45the extraction,
03:46I have a few years of the infrastructure
03:47We have a few years of the infrastructure
03:48of the humanity,
03:49the geological, minero, and metalúrgicos
03:52And that's the destination of all the fossils, with the time they're going to deteriorate in the surface, if they don't collect, they lose.
04:04Now, the bad of the scientists is that we collect what we're interested in if it's new, but once we publish it, we study it, we don't interest anything else, we pass something new.
04:17So, what do I do with all the rest of the fossils that are thrown out in the field and they don't have a scientific interest?
04:25That's why I'm doing a project with colleges, with the Ingemet, to be able to have a pilot plan of how to, through an integral study of a fossil,
04:39with the state institutions, like the Ingemet, a private school, the University of San Marcos,
04:45to be able to do something together for the fossil.
04:48So, the students learn from the geologists, and the students of geologists do their practices
04:56with both geologists professionals and students of college.
05:00So, what do I do with that?
05:19It says that we can do it.
Comments

Recommended