Ancient blue whales are not gentle

Ancient blue whale fossils. (Photo: AFP) A fossil with a fierce shape and sharp teeth found in Australia suggests that the ancestors of blue whales today are not " benevolent giants ".

This 25 million-year fossil belongs to the first group of horned whales, including modern humpback whales, minke whales and blue whales that feed on the horns of the jaw - a comb-like plate in the mouth used to filter out fleets in the sea

" This horror whale has no horns, " said Erich Fitzgerald, at Monash University in Australia, about a small whale in a 3.5 meter long form. " It has teeth and is a ferocious predator that catches big fish, even sharks and other whales ."

Most whales have big eyes to help hunt (Photo: BBC) Most scientists believe that whales evolve the baleen to eat small and ephemeral fish, after being separated from the whale group. have teeth about 40 million years ago. Modern toothed whales include dolphins, meat whales and sperm whales.

"The recent discovery rewrites the picture of horned whale evolution ," Fitzgerald said. Fossils are found near Jan Juc, a town in southeastern Australia. The animal has big eyes and sharp teeth about 3 cm long, clearly used for hunting.

Blue whales can weigh up to 150 tons and are longer than 30 meters, the largest creatures that ever existed on Earth, bigger than dinosaurs. Whales evolved from terrestrial mammals, the closest relatives are hippos.

(Photo: BBC)

MT