Giant gnashers: ancient whale bears his teeth
Updated on 03 July 2010
Teeth a foot long and a skeleton that would "make Jaws look like a stickleback" - Channel 4 News's science correspondent Tom Clarke meets the ancient sperm whale.
The beast's skeleton was discovered by fossil hunters in Peru's Pisco-Ica two years ago.
Details of their findings were published in Nature this week.
The whale is thought to be a cousin of the modern day sperm whale, which dives down deep into the ocean for its prey, the squid. But when its ancient relative roamed the seas, another dish was on the menu: other whales.
With a skull of more than three metres long and teeth of more than 36 centimetres, or just over a foot, its no surprise that this giant had its pick of the sea for dinner.
Rodolfo Salas Gismondi, of Lima's Natural History Museum, said: "You can see the size of the tooth from the outside. This animal can eat whatever it wants.
"Its characteristics are similar to the killer whale, so we think that maybe this animal was living as a killer whale, predating other big animals of its time."
The whale's skeleton was discovered in the sands of an area of desert which used to be part of the ocean. It's now above sea-level due to tectonic movements.
Channel 4 News science correspondent Tom Clarke said: "Scientists have unearthed all manner of fossilized marine creatures from the desert.
"But nothing like this one. A close relative of the modern day sperm whale, this 18 metre long predator would have made Jaws look like a stickleback."
Huge, toothed whales inspired Herman Melville's classic novel, Moby Dick.
In homage, scientists have named their new discovery Leviathan Melvillei.
