The largest creature that ever lived defies the laws of nature

Paleontologists discovered a 39-million-year-old whale fossil in Peru last year that appears to challenge the limits of vertebrate size. They calculated that its mass Huge porcupine It can even reach 340 tons. But at 17-20 meters long, it means its body was incredibly dense.

It would be impossible for the whale to stay afloat or even leave the bottom. He would need to constantly swim against gravity to do anything in the water. – Ryusuke Motani, UC Davis

a New analysis But it indicates that his bones are unusually dense Perocetus They led the scientists who discovered it to miscalculate the body's mass.

Perucetus' body mass did not exceed that of today's blue whales, and its size was more in line with that of strike whales.

The skeleton of P. colossus when it was discovered was incomplete and without the skull it is not possible to determine exactly what it ate. The bones that were discovered had unusual features, closer to those of manatees rather than modern whales. Manatee bones have additional layers that reduce the internal cavities of the bones and increase their external volume. This bone condition is known as steatosis and helps creatures regulate their buoyancy in the marine environment.

Original calculations assumed that body and skeletal mass were always on the same scale. But unlike whales, a manatee has less body mass than its skeleton. With this in mind, the new research suggests that the 17-metre-long Perocetus weighed between 60 and 70 tonnes.

Scientists believe this is a small specimen and an adult Perocetus could be up to 20 meters long and 110 tons. But then again, it can't compete with the 270-ton blue whale, giving the latter the title of largest creature ever.