16-million-year-old giant dolphin fossil discovered in the Amazon!
Researchers from the University of Zurich have discovered a 16-million-year-old skull fossil belonging to a giant dolphin species, 3.5 meters in length, in the Amazon River in Peru.
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University of Zurich researchers have announced the discovery of a 16-million-year-old skull fossil belonging to a giant dolphin species in the Amazon River in Peru.
According to a report by The Guardian, it was determined that the closest relative of the discovered dolphin species lives in Southeast Asia, 10,000 kilometers away. The lead author of the study, Aldo Benites-Palomino, explained that the fossil dates back 24 to 16 million years and belongs to the Platanistoidea family, measuring 3.5 meters in length.
Benites-Palomino stated that they discovered this dolphin species, named "Pebanista yacuruna," in 2018, but their work was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Benites-Palomino expressed that it is estimated this river dolphin species left the oceans to find new food sources in freshwater rivers.
Director of the Paleontology Department at the University of Zurich, Marcelo R. Sanchez-Villagra, said, "As a result of our 20 years of work in South America, we have found giant forms of some creatures currently living in the region, but this is the first example of a dolphin species."
The results of the research were published in the journal Science Advances.