Paleontologists have unearthed the remains of an extraordinary ancient animal in Peru.
Scientists have long established that the ancestors of whales once lived on land, but this fact is no less surprising.
Today, the seas and oceans are inhabited by many cetaceans - from a huge blue whale to pink dolphins in the Amazon. But millions of years ago, whales looked like a cross between amphibians and crocodiles and walked on four legs.
The remains of this previously unknown ancient ancestor of whales were found off the coast of Peru back in 2011 and were dated to 42.6 million years (Eocene). But they were presented to the general public only this week.
The new animal received the scientific name "Peregocetus pacificus", which roughly translates as "walking Pacific whale." This creature had four legs with membranes, from which it is concluded that he was a good swimmer.
At the same time, his hind legs had a strong grip on the pelvis, and he had small hooves at the tips of his toes, which probably made him very comfortable to walk on land.
Its muzzle resembled the muzzle of modern dolphin-like, the jaw was long with small sharp teeth. The walking whale ate fish or crustaceans in shallow water.
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This creature is also unique in its location, earlier other ancestors of whales (Maiacetus and Rodhocetus) were found in Asia (India and Pakistan), and this is the first one found on the Pacific coast.
This was a big surprise for scientists, because it was previously believed that whales reached the coast of America from Asia only when they switched to a completely aquatic lifestyle. And now it turns out that they were excellent sailors even when they had four working legs.
It is believed that cetaceans descended from the artiodactyls of South Asia, and moved to a semi-aquatic lifestyle about 50 million years ago. The theory that walking whales could swim from Asia to America is quite plausible, because earlier there was not so much distance between these two continents as it is now.
