Ancient Whale Fossils With Four Otter-Like Legs, Discovered In Peru
It seems that ancient whales were able to swim for days and even weeks according to the latest discovery. The unexpected thing is that they were also able to wander the land.
The sample that’s found in Peru is an ancient four-legged whale that has hoovers which have just been discovered.
This sample offers quite a lot of details about the transition that’s made from land to sea of the Earth’s largest mammals.
The four-legged whale could walk and swim
The fossil dates back 42.6 million years ago and it has been discovered in the marine sediments that are placed along the coast of Peru.
They look as they have been adapted for an aquatic lifestyle, according to the reports.
According to the way its feet and the shape of the legs look, the whale was able to bear the weight of its body which was four-meter long and walk the land without having any troubles.
The tail was also really powerful ad its feet were similar to the ones of otters. These features show that this was an excellent swimmer.
Travis Park an ancient whale expert said that they are the perfect example of evolution.
Park who works at the Natural History Museum in London, explained that they went from small mammals to the whales we see today.
The latest specimen fills in the necessary gaps
Both older and smaller whale ancestors that have four limbs have been discovered before, but this latest specimen is the one that managed to fill in the gaps that we used to have when it came to the evolution of these creatures in the oceans all over the world.
The newly discovered four-legged whale suggests that the early whales were able to migrate from South Asia to South America and then to North America as well.
I have been blogging and posting articles for over eight years, but my passion for writing dates back in 2000. I am especially enthusiastic about technology, science, and health-related issues. When I’m not researching and writing the latest news, I’m either watching sci-fi and horror movies or checking out places worth visiting and building deep memories for later in life. I believe in empathy and continually improving myself.
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