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Vaquita. Photo Thomas Jefferson

Scientific Committee gives first ever official species extinction warning

Photo: Thomas Jefferson We have welcomed the urgent call by experts to protect the vaquita...
blue whale

Whale fossil from Peru may have been heavier than blue whale

Scientists examining the bones of a 39 million-year-old ancient whale have concluded that it may...
Humpback whale © Christopher Swann

Humpback whales breach in synchronisation

Humpback whales are renowned for their incredible acrobatic displays, but a family in the USA...
Long-finned pilot whale

Unusual activity witnessed before pilot whale stranding

Just days after a pod of long-finned pilot whales stranded on an island in the...

Fossil helps fill ancient whale knowledge gap

A new study in Australia by the Monash School of Biological Sciences of a whale fossil found in Peru has provided fresh information on the origins of baleen whales, helping to connect whales living today with their evolutionary past.

The new whale (Tiucetus rosae) bridges the gap between a family known as cetotheriids – today represented by the living pygmy right whale  and a group of ancient whales living 10 to 25 million years ago about which little is known.

 

Study author, Dr Felix Marx said; “We know from DNA and morphological studies how the living baleen whale families relate to each other, but the looks and whereabouts of their earliest ancestors remain largely in the dark. Our new whale is starting to change that, by filling in the blanks.”

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