Ancient ’Deceptively Cute’ Whale Unearthed in Australia

Australian researchers have unveiled a newly discovered species of ancient whale, Janjucetus dullardi, based on a remarkably intact skull fossil found on Victoria’s Surf Coast in 2019. The 26-million-year-old predator, described as ’deceptively cute’ with its large eyes and dolphin-like size, boasted a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, making it a formidable hunter. Palaeontologist Erich Fitzgerald noted the fossil provides crucial insights into how early whales adapted to marine life, bridging the gap between their land-dwelling ancestors and modern filter-feeding giants.

The whale belongs to the mammalodontid family, a group of small prehistoric whales distantly related to today’s baleen whales. This marks only the fourth species of its kind ever discovered and the third in Victoria, following earlier finds in 2006 and 1939. The Surf Coast’s Jan Juc Formation, a geological treasure trove from the Oligocene epoch, has yielded numerous rare fossils, cementing its reputation as a key site for studying whale evolution. Fitzgerald likened the region to a ’cradle’ for bizarre ancient whales, with many more discoveries likely to come.

Named after local Ross Dullard, who stumbled upon the skull during a beach walk, Janjucetus dullardi has been dubbed as uniquely Australian as a kangaroo. The study, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, adds another piece to the puzzle of how whales came to dominate the oceans. The find follows the 2023 discovery of a massive ancient whale in Peru, underscoring the global significance of such fossils in understanding Earth’s prehistoric ecosystems.

ancient whalefossilpaleontologyevolutionmarine predatorAustraliaVictoriaSurf Coastmammalodontidprehistoric