Largest Sperm Whale Fossil Skull Found – Leviathan Melvillei

A whale eating other whales. It seems weird but the skull of a huge sperm whale recently found off the coast of Peru confirms it. A giant fossil sperm whale skull about 13 million years old and measuring about 10 feet long was found. And yes we are talking only about its head right now.

This is the largest whale skull ever found. According to paleontologists, this whale had teeth in both jaws (unlike current sperm whales) and was most probably feeding upon other whales such as our current baleen whales and killer whales.

Sperm whales which exist nowadays have teeth only in their bottom jaws and their main food supply is mostly squids. These animals rarely use their teeth to catch and hold their prey. Instead sperm whales swallow the squid down like noodles or spaghetti.

Olivier Lambert of the Muséum National Histoire Naturelle in Paris said: “We could see it from very far. It was found with teeth in the top and bottom jaws, which measured up to 14 inches long”. The fossil has been named as Leviathan Melvillei to honor of the author of the book “Moby Dick”, a book which talks about a large whale.

Source : www.islandcrisis.net