16 August 2006
|
| Artist's impression of Janjucetus 'in the flesh', in the seas off southeast Australia 25 million years ago. The total length of Janjucetus is estimated at about 3-3.5 m. Source: Museum Victoria |
The most important marine mammal fossil yet discovered in Australia -- the 25 million year-old whale skull Janjucetus hunderi -- has revealed secrets that demand a major re-write of the current understanding of whale evolution.
The findings, by Monash University PhD researcher and Museum Victoria research associate Mr Erich Fitzgerald, show baleen whales, including toothless filter-feeders such as the blue whale, often thought of as gentle giants of the sea, were not always so giant or gentle.
Unveiled at the Melbourne Museum this week, the fossil is arguably one of the most internationally significant fossils ever discovered in Australia, identifying a new family of small, highly predatory, toothed baleen whales with enormous eyes.
This remarkable fossil shows that the earliest baleen whales were surprisingly unlike their living relatives in appearance and lifestyle, and forces a major rethink of our concept of what baleen whales are and how they evolved.
The findings have been published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the foremost publication of The Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science.
|
| The fossil skull and lower jaw of Janjucetus hunderi. The skull is about 50 cm long. Source: Museum Victoria |
The skull of Janjucetus hunderi was discovered in the late 1990s in southeast Australia and has been examined by Mr Fitzgerald and others ever since.
Mr Fitzgerald said the fossil -- the most complete fossil whale skull ever discovered in Australia - revealed a new perspective on cetacean evolution.
"We have to re-assess baleen whales as gentle giants, as passive grazers of krill and plankton," he said. "This animal shows that some baleen whales were in fact pretty deadly predators. It was an animal built for power and crippling attacks on its prey."
The whale skull will be on display at Melbourne Museum from 16 August to 6 September, 2006. | 
