Whale fossils 40 million years

An Italian craftsman has discovered a whale fossil dating back 40 million years ago. Experts say the fossil has never been found before.

>>>Discover the graveyard of 75 whales in the desert

On Msnbc , an Italian stone worker is cutting a slab of stone when he finds a skeleton inside. Knowing that the skeleton in a stone tablet is completely unusual, so the craftsman brought the stone to find expert G. Bianucci of the University of Pisa.

From the six fossil puzzle pieces, the prehistoric whale can be imagined.

After finding out, G. Julianucci concluded that the stone that the artisans found was a prehistoric whale fossil. The important thing is, this fossil has never been found before.

This particular fossil was discovered in 2003. The head and upper body of the whale are kept intact in the fossil. It is known that this fossil was found in an Egyptian quarry. After being cut into 6 thin pieces, whale fossils can be seen clearly in the rock.

The present unique fossil is preserved at the Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa and Professor G. Bianucci decides to restore the shape and origin of this whale fossil.

Thewissen, professor of Ohio Northeastern College of Medicine said: 'This fossil has a very special meaning because it is a completely new animal that can help us understand the diversity of the whale species of the time. history in the Eocene period, 55 million years to 35 million years ago. Also, it's really beautiful! '

P.Gingerich, an ancient whale expert at the University of Michigan based on fossils, predicts that this historic whale is about 3 meters long, weighs about 295kg. In addition, studying this fossil skeleton, researchers also discovered many interesting information about the ancient whale. For example, the structure of the nose, this ancient whale has the olfactory capacity that the current whale does not have.

'This is the first time we have seen such a complete and beautiful fossil, besides, it has an olfactory power. This is an extremely important finding to study whale evolution '.

On fossils, scientists also found teeth marks. This proves that the cause of this ancient whale's death may have been due to an ancient shark attack. After being attacked, this ancient whale may have been lying on the seabed for months before being turned into fossils, because only fossil-like fossils were seen on one side of its body. .

As for the fossil's lower body, the scientists thought it might be a trauma injury that led to the whale's death, or it could be the fossil formation.