10:33 | Ica (Ica region), Dec. 8.
A new species of sperm whale from the early Miocene, Diaphorocetus ortegai n. sp., was discovered after a fossilized skull was unearthed in the Ocucaje Desert, located in the province of Ica, in the region of the same name,
San Marcos University's Natural History Museum has reported.
It inhabited Peruvian coast 18.8 million years ago.
After stating that the discovery was published in the research journal
Geodiversitas, the museum noted that
this new sperm whale inhabited the Peruvian coast 18.8 to 18.3 million years ago.
Moreover, it said that the new species belongs to the genus Diaphorocetus, which was previously discovered in Argentina and of which only one species was known: Diaphorocetus poucheti.
The study indicates that, differing from the latter in its smaller cranial dimensions, higher tooth count, the new species confirms a key character of D. poucheti: the marked dorsoventral flattening of the maxillary portion of the rostrum.
"These characteristics suggested a particular feeding strategy of this genus of extinct cetaceans, which involved performing rapid lateral sweeping movements of the head to capture small- and medium-sized prey items, mainly fish. These species are in a period of evolutionary transition between the first sperm whales and the most recent ones, such as superpredators or macroraptorial sperm whales, as well as those which feed by sucking prey into their mouth," it said.
The research highlights that the description of this new species increases the similarities between the toothed whale faunas from the local Chilcatay Formation (Ica) and the Gaiman and Monte Leon formations of Argentinian Patagonia.
Moreover, it points not only to dispersal routes between the southeastern Pacific and southwestern Atlantic in the early Miocene, but also to relatively similar ecological settings along the coasts of Peru and Patagonia at that time.
Paleontological wealth
In February this year, a group of paleontologists from San Marcos University presented the fossil skull and jaws of a new species of prehistoric macroraptorial sperm whale, discovered in the Ocucaje Desert (Ica region).
According to the above-mentioned university, the fossil, from the late Miocene of the Ocucaje Desert, Pisco formation, Peru, would exceed 1.30 meters in length and belongs to an adult whale.
In this regard, Aldo Benites Palomino, biologist-zoologist at San Marcos University, stated that this fossil is the best of its kind that was preserved intact for seven million years.
(END) NDP/MAO/RMB/MVB
Published: 12/8/2023