LEVIATHAN MELVILLE - BY HUNTERWHALES - HD - CNN ARTICLE - LEVIATANO

LEVIATHAN MELVILLE
(CNN) -- Researchers scanning the Peruvian desert for whale fossils have stumbled upon the remains of a "sea monster" three times the size of a modern day killer whale.
The teeth of "Leviathan Melvillei" were so large it was initially assumed they were elephant tusks.
"There were no elephants in South America before 3 million years ago, and the specimens found have an age of 12 to 15 million years, so that was impossible," said Professor Jelle Reumer, one of the team of scientists who found the fossil in the Pisco-Ica desert in coastal Peru.
They had been searching for other types of whale fossils in a remote area some 300 kilometers south of Lima. "The place where we found it was 20 kilometers from the nearest village," said Reumer, who is also director of Natural History Museum in Rotterdam.
Strong winds had shifted sand to expose a three-meter long fossilized skull. The skull of today's blue whale, still the largest animal ever known to have existed, is around six meters long.
The fossilized remains found in Peru include a jaw bone and several teeth, each around 12 centimeters in diameter and up to 36 centimeters in length.
The size of its teeth indicate that the mammal fed on large prey, possibly baleen whales which were plentiful at the time of the Leviathan's existence around 12 million to 13 million years ago, in the middle of the Miocene Age, Reumer said.
It is not known why they became extinct. Reumer said it could have been due to "climatic deterioration."
"After the Miocene it became relatively much colder. At the same time the baleen whales became bigger probably to escape from predation from these animals, just the way elephants escaped predation by becoming bigger so they were not eaten by lions any more," he said. Baleen whales now grow to 30 meters in length. Back then, they were much smaller, around six to ten meters long.
Reumer says the Leviathan could be best compared to a modern killer whale. Killer whales feast on sea lions, seals, fish, birds and sometimes other whales.
Modern sperm whales have a completely different method of feeding; they suck in squid at depths of a kilometer or more and only have relatively small teeth on their lower jaw.
The whale was named after the original Hebrew word for a mythical sea monster -- Livyatan -- and Herman Melville, the author of the novel Moby Dick.
The remains of the Leviathan Melvillei will remain in Peru at the Museo de Historia Natural in Lima. Casts of the three largest teeth are on display at the the Natural History Museum Rotterdam.
Reumer says there is very little chance another will be found. "It's a top predator so there were very few specimens living at any period of time. The chance that they are fossilized is very small and the chance that you find them is even smaller," he said.
The find is detailed in a paper published July 1 in the scientific journal Nature.

Ricostruzione di Leviathan melvillei realizzata da Charlène Letenneur
del Mséum National d'Hitoire Naturelle, Paris.
Confronto tra orca (in alto) e leviathan (n basso)
(illustrazione di G. Bianucci).
Cranio, mandibola e denti di Leviathan melvillei. a, veduta dorsale;
b, veduta ventrale; c, veduta laterale. In grigio le parti mancanti.
(foto di G. Bianucci)
Disegno schematico del cranio e della mandibola Leviathan melvillei.
A, veduta dorsale; B, veduta laterale; C, veduta ventrale
(illustrazione di G. Bianucci).
Denti mandibolari di Leviathan melvillei (A-C), di capodoglio (D) e di
orca (E) (foto di G. Bianucci)
Mandibola di Leviathan melvillei. A, veduta dorsale; B,veduta laterale
(foto di G. Bianucci).
Confronto tra il cranio e la mandibola di Leviathan (A) e quelli del
capodoglio (B) e dell'orca (C). Da notare le grandi dimensioni della
fossa temporale e dei denti in Leviathan. Tutte le illustrazioni sono
alla stessa scala (illustrazione di G. Bianucci).
Leviathan nel deserto. Cerro Colorado (Pisco-Ica deserto, 35 km
sudovest di Ica, Peru). Da sinistra a destra: Jelle Reumer, Mario
Urbina e Kaas Post. Novembre 2008 (foto di G. Bianucci).
Leviathan in laboratorio. Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad
Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima. A sinistra: Giovanni Bianucci; a
destra: Olivier Lambert. Settembre 2009 (foto di G. Bianucci).
Leviathan nel deserto. Cerro Colorado (Pisco-Ica deserto, 35 km
sudovest di Ica, Peru). Da sinistra a destra: Klaas Post, Jelle Reumer
e Olivier Lambert. Novembre 2008 (foto di G. Bianucci).
Foto di gruppo. Pisco-Ica deserto, Novembre 2008. Fila in alto da
sinistra: Giovanni Bianucci, Jelle Reumer e Klaas Post. Fila di mezzo
da sinistra: tre guide peruviane. Seduto: Mario Urbina (foto di O.
Lambert).
Allineamento di pietre fatto da precolombiani e ossa fossili di
cetacei nella stessa località fossilifera di Leviathan. Cerro Colorado
(Pisco-Ica desert, 35 km south-southwest of Ica, Peru). Novembre 2008
(foto di G. Bianucci).

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[hunterwhales]

Forgive the error of the video title

[MrTinago]

@hunterwhales nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo i can't forgive you..

[hunterwhales]

@MrTinago I'm sorry.... I did not see the keyboard...

[SharkAttack521]

@hunterwhales Just edit the title.

[divisorplot]

wow really like the spoken word on this documentary! caco

[granmitico]

Il levitano è esistito realmente, come il mammut e il celacanto, come l'archeopteryx ecc, la Bibbia racconta il vero.

[moolate127]

@SunWukong4 Just caus it opens its jaws wide, doesn't excuse the fact its jaws are puny.

[SunWukong4]

@moolate127 How do you know L won't a big whale with huge jaws and teeth clearly made for a predator. There have been comparisons to Levs jaws to Megs they show that when the Lev opens its mouth wide enough it rivals or matches the Megs.

[moolate127]

@SunWukong4 Jaws as big? No. Its jaws wre the same length as a man, so 6 ft. Megalodon had a 12 ft. jaws span, thats big enough to swallow a minivan whole.

So? A million years from now they will find whale bones in the same sight as shark bones, does that mean they ate sharks? no. it doesn't.

[SunWukong4]

@moolate127 There were no signs of the Leviathan getting any damage from the Megalodon, there were fossiled sharks and whales found at the same site the leviathan was discovered so this would back up the leviathan eating them during it's time. Why wouldn't the leviathan eat whales or sharks with jaws as big and teeth bigger than the megalodon. If I remembered a killer whale used such tactics.

[moolate127]

@SunWukong4 And once the Leviathan loses its tail its an all you can eat buffet.

No one knows if Levithan really did eat whales (or sharks for that matter). See people know for a fact that MEG eats whales, cuz lasserations in whale bones fit meg teeth perfectly. If i remeber right, and i do, they have nevr found any proof that L eats whales, for all you know it could be a sad, sad little sqid eater, just like the sperm whale. It doesn't rely on sneaking, it just makes it easy, m can give chase

[SunWukong4]

@moolate127 Wrong Leviathan is a monstrous whale. Megalodon relies on sneaking it couls go to the one who bites first and the Leviathan has a good chance heck being a mammal it should be smart enough to get rid of the top fin of the Megalodon to secure victory. Once the shark loses its dorsal fin its over. Leviathan has been compared to Megalodons size and teeth. Lev ate whales and sharks Meg is a bigger shark for bigger challenge.