Peruvian scientists uncover fossils of largest known animal

Scientists in Peru have uncovered fossils of an ancient whale believed to be the biggest animal to have ever lived on Earth.

The Perucetus whale is estimated to have been about 20 meters long and could have weighed up to 340 metric tonnes, making it heavier than a blue whale or the largest dinosaurs.

[marksmoore]

The Blue Whale is bigger than ever dinosaur that ever existed. It is the largest animal known to have existed...until now.

[reinster]

Imagine all of the other extinct species we have never discovered. How they would have looked like, maybe even bigger than this whale. Around 60% of extinct species, we have never and probably never will know about.

[pandahsykes]

So this beast was *HEAVIER* but not _LONGER_ (unless the remaining missing fossil proves otherwise)
Blue whale : 33m, 200 tons
Perucetus whale : 20m, 340 tons

[WinkLinkletter]

I like how she kind of caters to people's misconceptions when she says 'or even the largest dinosaurs'. The blue whale is by far larger than any dinosaur was, but people's lack of contact with either and the sensationalisms of Hollywood have people thinking dinosaurs were big as skyscrapers.

[WinWithBNB]

Wondered what caused it's extinction, Megalodon wasn't around in that Era.

[alistair]

20m long is about half the length of a big Blue Whale. Maybe she misspoke?

[douglascooper]

Scary to think that there was something else that was Big Enough To Eat It.😳

[EL-FUKKO]

They never met Mrs Stewart's mother.

[SameerPrehistorica]

You gotta be kidding me with the 300 tonnes+ weight estimate.

[deathtalker]

66 feet long....Blue Whale 100 feet long but not as heavy

[gitfoad]

If this was Sky'news' in Brit, they'd have a skirt put on it in no time.

[djhmo]

They only have 13 vertebrae, four ribs and part of a hip bone. Not much to claim that was shorter but maybe heavier than a blue whale. Bu it makes a nice gesture for applying for a new research grant to study it.

[neilmanhard]

Ah, poor guy. If only they could control their carbon emissions, they'll still be here today. "Shame, shame" Greta would say to them.

[michaelfoye]

So which is it? Peruvian scientists or scientists in Peru?

[noahbawdy]

That ain't heavy... it's my animal... so on we go...

[jonpaul]

Wtf? Those are just its bones! How big is this thing

[zhaowei]

20 m isn’t big sky get it right a normal blue whale is 30 metres

[Hallonyancat]

How did I get here from a jenny craig list?

[tymz-r-achangin]

More claims of things being like 38 million years old but still cant actually prove. We're expect to go by their so-called reliable dating techniques which have been proven to be highly inconsistent and otherwise unreliable

[DreAmeoba]

Did she say Eocene, or Miocene ? If Miocene, it was probably prey to the “terror whales”….