And it’s telling us a whole lot about the evolution of modern day sperm whales.
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00:00This is a dig site in a desert in Peru, but the area wasn't always dry and arid.
00:08Around 7 million years ago, the area was once a vast ocean, teeming with life, and these
00:13paleontologists have just discovered signs of one of those creatures.
00:17This is what experts say is the skull of a prehistoric sperm whale, with its teeth and
00:21part of its jaw still intact.
00:22The whole thing is around 4.3 feet long, and the creature it belonged to stretched some
00:2718 feet, and is not only telling us a lot about the area it was found in, but the skull
00:31is also providing clues about the evolution of the modern day sperm whale.
00:35This is Aldo Benitez Palomino, one of the paleontological researchers studying the specimen.
00:40Here's what he had to say about it.
00:41This animal is super interesting, because unlike current sperm whales that only feed
00:44on squid or small fish, this animal has all of the features of a predator, a very strong
00:49bite and very developed teeth.
00:51Researchers haven't yet identified what else these ancient whales might have fed on, but
00:54they say this is the first major clue, as it's the first specimen with complete teeth
00:57they've ever found.
00:58The discovery was made by researchers with the Museum of Natural History of the Universidad
01:02Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, and is currently on display in Lima's Natural History Museum.