Paleontologists have discovered the fossil of an enormous ancient river dolphin – the first of its kind found in the Amazon.
A report published in the journal of Science Advances has revealed that paleontologist Aldo Benites-Palomino has discovered a fossilised skull of an ‘ancient river dolphin,’ measuring approximately 11 feet (3.5 meters) in the Peruvian Amazon.
The species, named Pebanista yacuruna, is said to have belonged to the Platanistoidea family of dolphins commonly found in oceans between 24 million and 16 million years ago, according to a report published by The Guardian.
According to Benites-Palomino, who made the remarkable discovery, all river dolphins are the “remnants of what were once greatly diverse marine dolphin groups.” He added that these dolphins may have fled to freshwater rivers – the “escape valves” of the ocean – in search of new food sources millions of years ago.
The fossilised skull was discovered by Benites-Palomini in Peru in 2018, when he was an undergraduate. Reports state that a fragment of the ancient dolphin’s fossilised jaw was first discovered while Benites-Palomini was walking with a colleague.
He was immediately able to identify the ancient fossil as belonging to a river dolphin, but was not expecting to discover a new species – the first of its kind to be discovered in the Amazon.
Shocked by the discovery, Benites-Palomino said:
“We [had] found an animal, a giant, whose closest living relative is 10,000km away in south-east Asia.”
As per the analysis of the giant skull, published in Science Advances, the enormous river dolphin’s body would have measured at least 3.5 meters long – up to 25% bigger than modern river dolphins, and the biggest known freshwater dolphin.
As per reports by CNN, the new species’ name, Pebanista yacuruna, references Peru’s Pebas Formation, where the fossil was found, and “yacuruna,” an Indigenous Kichua term stemming from a local legend about mythical aquatic people.
Can you picture what an ancient dolphin, twice your size, might even look like, wading around in an Amazonian river?
Natural History Illustrator Artist shared his artistic reconstruction on X:
Meet Pebanista yacuruna, the largest river dolphin of the fossil record! I feel very honored to have been able to make the illustrations of this spectacular new species of cetacean. Congratulations to the entire team of researchers who brought us back this creature! pic.twitter.com/KTRiWQWMEt
— Jaime Bran|| Illustration🐳🐬🦭🎨 (@BranArtworks) March 20, 2024
