Paleontologists have discovered a new fossil toothed whale species. article about it published at PeerJ Life and Environment.
The fossils were found in the Pysht Formation in Washington State in the western United States and are about 26.5–30.5 million years old. Name of new species olympic thalassodon. “olympic thalassodon and their close relatives display a combination of traits that truly distinguish them from other groups of toothed whales. From the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (NHMLAC), Dr. Some of these features, such as very padded teeth, symmetrical skulls and protruding nostrils, make them more of a crossing point between archaic whales and modern dolphins,” says Vélez-Huarbe. ).
The study also showed that Olympic and close relatives belonged to the family simocetidae, a group hitherto known only from North Pacific finds, ancient ancestors of toothed whales. Differences in body size, teeth, and other nutritional structures suggest that different simocetids hunted different prey in different ways. “Teeth Olympic it’s really weird, we call them heterodonts, so the teeth in the same row are different from each other. This stands out from the teeth of more advanced toothed whales, whose teeth are simpler and tend to look nearly identical,” the scientists say.
However, scientists have yet to decipher many details about these animals, such as whether they are capable of echolocation.
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