A new species of ancient whale might be the heaviest animal ever found.

In this May 2022, photo provided by Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor San Marcos (Lima), disarticulated vertebrae of the skeleton of Perucetus colossus were surface-scanned to assess their volume by Walter Aguirre, from left, Alberto Collareta, Marco Merella, in Lima, Peru.

(Giovanni Bianucci/Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, via AP)

They’ve been digging up massive fossils from the creature in the Peruvian desert over the past decade. 2, 2023, that the creature could challenge the blue whale’s title as the heaviest animal that lived on Earth. In this June 2017, photo provided by Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, disarticulated vertebrae of the skeleton of Perucetus colossus is excavated by Eusebio Diaz, from left, Alfredo Martinez and Walter Aguirre, in the Ica Province, southern Peru.Scientists reported in the journal Nature, Wednesday, Aug. In this June 2017, photo provided by Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, a single vertebra collected within a plaster jacked of Perucetus colossus is transported from the site of origin in the Ica desert in Ica Province, southern Peru, to the Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor San Marcos, in Lima.Researchers describe the new species named Perucetus colossus, or “the colossal whale from Peru,” in the journal Nature on Wednesday, Aug.

In this 2023 artist illustration by Alberto Gennari, Perucetus colossus is reconstructed in its coastal habitat, with an estimated body length: ~20 meters.An international team spent years digging them out from the side of a steep, rocky slope in the Ica desert, a region in Peru that was once underwater and is known for its rich marine fossils. The bones were first discovered more than a decade ago by Mario Urbina from the University of San Marcos’ Natural History Museum. Visitors and journalists attend a presentation introducing a newly found species named Perucetus colossus, or “the colossal whale from Peru”, in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Aug.The bones were first discovered more than a decade ago by Urbina from the University of San Marcos’ Natural History Museum. Paleontologist Mario Urbina poses for a photo next to the vertebrae of a newly found species named Perucetus colossus, or “the colossal whale from Peru”, during a presentation in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Aug.

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