Livyatan
| Livyatan Temporal range: Miocene,
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| Genus: | Leviathan Lambert et al., 2010
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| Binomial name | |
| Leviathan melvillei Lambert et al., 2010
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Leviathan melvillei is an extinct species of physeteroid whale. Fossilised remains, comprising 75% of the animal's skull, and large fragments of both jaws and several teeth, were discovered in the Pisco-Ica desert in southern Peru in 2008, in Miocene rocks 12-13 million years old.[1][2][3][4] The discovery of L. melvillei was published in the journal Nature on 30 June 2010.[2] Unfortunately, the name Leviathan applied to this whale is an invalid junior homonym of Leviathan Koch, 1841 (see Leviathan).
Morphology and habitat
The sole known fossil skull of Leviathan melvillei measures 3 metres long, its longest teeth are 36 cm long, and it is thought its overall length would have been in the 13.5-17.5 m range. It was similar in size and appearance to the modern sperm whale. Unlike the sperm whale, however, which only has functional teeth in its lower jaw, Leviathan melvillei had teeth in both jaws, and the teeth were much larger than those found in present-day sperm whales: they are the largest cetacean teeth ever discovered. It is thought to have been an aggressive predator, possibly preying on baleen whales.[1]
The fossil skull has a curved basin which suggests it might have had a large spermaceti organ, a series of oil and wax reservoirs separated by connective tissue. This organ is thought to help modern sperm whales to dive deeply for their prey, squid. However, as it is thought that L. melvillei probably would have hunted baleen whales near the surface, it appears that this organ would have had other functions. Possible suggestions include echolocation, acoustic displays (with the spermaceti organ acting as a resonance chamber) or aggressive headbutting, possibly used against competing males in mating contests, or possibly to batter its prey.[2]
The fossil was in found in Miocene rocks 12-13 million years old at Cerro Colorado in the Pisco-Ica desert in southern Peru. The area would have been a shallow lagoon when the whale was alive, and fossil remains of many other animals, including baleen whales, beaked whales, dolphins, porpoises, sharks, turtles, seals and sea birds, have been found at the site. L. melvillei would have been a top predator together with the 20-metre-long giant shark, Carcharocles megalodon.[3][4]
Leviathan melvillei was discovered by Olivier Lambert of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris[5][6] when he stumbled across the fossil in November 2008 during the final day of a field trip with other researchers.
The genus name refers to the biblical Leviathan, whereas the species epithet honours Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick - the authors of the Nature paper are all fans of the novel and wanted to dedicate their discovery to its author.[4] The fossil was prepared in Lima,[2] and the discovery of L. melvillei was published in the journal Nature on 30 June 2010.[2][7] At the same time Nature also published a 7 minute long video, with footage of the fossil being excavated and interviews with various researchers involved, available both on its website[8] and on its YouTube channel.[9]
The fossil has been placed in the collection of the Natural History Museum in Lima, Peru.[3]
References
- ^ a b Lambert, O., G. Bianucci, K. Post, C. de Muizon, R. Salas-Gismondi, M. Urbina & J. Reumer. (2010). The giant bite of a new raptorial sperm whale from the Miocene epoch of Peru. Nature 466: 105–108. doi:10.1038/nature09067
- ^ a b c d e Janet Fang (2010-06-30). "Call me Leviathan melvillei". Nature. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c Ian Sample (2010-06-30). "Fossil sperm whale with huge teeth found in Peruvian desert". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c Pallab Ghosh (2010-06-30). "'Sea monster' whale fossil unearthed". BBC. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Belg ontdekt nieuwe soort monsterwalvis". De Redactie. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Ancient Whale + Killer Shark = Hypercarnivorous Whale". Wired Science. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Giant predatory whale named for 'Moby Dick' author Physorg
- ^ "The jaws of the Leviathan". Nature. 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "The jaws of the Leviathan: by Nature Video". Nature on YouTube. 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
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