CNN
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A colossal ancient whale discovered in Peru might be the heaviest animal on record, according to a new study.
At an estimated body mass of 85 to 340 metric tons (187,393 to 749,572 pounds), the heft of the now-extinct Perucetus colossus is equivalent to or exceeds that of the blue whale, which had indisputably been considered the animal with the greatest body mass until now, said Giovanni Bianucci, first author of the study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
The partial skeleton of Perucetus, consisting of 13 vertebrae, four ribs and one hip bone, is estimated to be 17 to 20 meters (55.8 to 65.6 feet) long. The fossil specimen is shorter than that of a 25-meter long (82-foot-long) blue whale — but its skeletal mass still potentially exceeded that of any known mammal or sea vertebrate, including its gigantic relative, according to the study
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/02/world/ancient-colossal-whale-perucetus-colossus-scn/index.html
How the fossil was discovered
Peruvian paleontologists led by Mario Urbina of the Natural History Museum at the University of San Marcos in Lima were working in the Atacama Desert in southern Peru when they first spotted something strange sticking out of the sand about 13 years ago, Amson said.
At first, it was so odd that they weren't sure if it was a rock or bone, so they did a chemical analysis on a small sample. Sure enough, it was a fossil bone, so they started excavating. Over a decade, they uncovered 13 massive vertebrae, each over 100 kilograms; four ribs, each up to 1.4 metres long; and a small hip bone.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/perucetus-whale-fossil-heavy-1.6925284
