(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Top Comments: Newly Discovered Fossil Whle May Have Benn the Heaviest Animal to Have Ever Lived [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-08-06 Here at Top Comments we strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find! An extinct new species of whale has been discovered in Peru, and it may be the heaviest animal that has ever lived. It has been dubbed Perucetus colossus. The first fossil of the ancient whale was discovered back in 2010 by Mario Urbina, a paleontologist who has spent decades searching the desert on the southern coast of Peru. "There is no record of the existence of an animal as large as this, it is the first, that's why nobody believed me when we discovered it," Urbina told AFP in Lima. Only 13 vertebrae have been found, and four ribs, but the vertebrae bones are very heavy, one weighing nearly 200 kg (440 lbs). In order for the whale to be sufficiently bouyant to float, the mass of the great mass of the skeleton had to have been offset by a large amount of blubber. The specimen is estimated to have had an average body mass of about 180 metric tons, and the mass range for the species may have ranged from 85 to 340 metric tons. By contrast, the largest specimen of the largest species currently on Earth, the blue whale, weighed 190 metric tons. The Perucetus colossus specimen lived about 40 million years ago. During this time, cetaceans still had vestigial pelvises and legs. Without any teeth or fossil head bones, it is impossible to say for sure what the head of this species looked like, but it is assumed to have been a member of a now extinct family of early whales called basilosurids. Perucetus is assumed to have been a bottom feeder that kept close to coastlines. x YouTube Video Still more evidence is required before Perucetus’ designation as heaviest known species can be confirmed, but it’s nonetheless as surprising finding. Comments are below the fold. Top Comments (August 6, 2023): From thesphynx: Shazster's vivid description of TFG's devolving state of mind and comprehensive attitude towards enemies, and why he desperately needs the presidency back. From annieli’s recommended post Previous Guy backpedals... Top Mojo (August 5, 2023): Top Mojo is courtesy of mik! Click here for more on how Top Mojo works. Top Photos (August 5, 2023): Thanks to jotter (RIP) for creating it and elfling for restoring it. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/6/2185667/-Top-Comments-Newly-Discovered-Fossil-Whle-May-Have-Benn-the-Heaviest-Animal-to-Have-Ever-Lived Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/