Evidence for Evolution-Leviathan melvillei

The discovery of a new giant sperm whale from the Middle Miocene of Peru (approximately 12--13 million years ago), Leviathan melvillei, described on the basis of a skull with teeth and mandible. With a 3-m-long head, very large upper and lower teeth (maximum diameter and length of 12 cm and greater than 36 cm, respectively), robust jaws and a temporal fossa considerably larger than in modern sperm whale, this stem physeteroid represents one of the largest raptorial predators and, to our knowledge, the biggest tetrapod bite ever found.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v466/n7302/abs/nature09067.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/videoarchive/jawsofleviathan/index.html

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Evolution
• darwin
• sperm whale
• Leviathan melvillei
• Physeter macrocephalus
• predators