The bizarre bones of an ancient whale suggest it may have been the most massive animal that ever lived — outweighing the official record holder, today’s blue whale.
Researchers estimate that Perucetus colossus was about 20 metres long — about the length of an articulated bus, but shorter than the blue whale’s 24- to 30-metre length. But because of its unusual anatomy, including extremely dense bones, P. colossus had a mass of between 85 and 340 tonnes. That means it likely outweighed the blue whale, with an average mass of about 90 to 130 tonnes.
“The estimated skeletal mass of P. colossus exceeds
