12 million year old sperm whale

The skull fossil, which is embedded in a stone, has been on campus for years sitting in a garden before it was identified as a possible unknown type of sperm whale. Other nearby stones in the landscape have fossilized whale vertebrae and ribs. Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze. Other nearby stones, such as this one, in the landscape have fossilized whale vertebrae and ribs.

December 9, The authors of the study reanalyzed the large but incomplete Ontocetus oxymycterus fossil sperm whale specimen from the middle Miocene Monterey Formation of California, originally described in by Remington Kellogg. Kellogg put this species in the genus Ontocetus , that was originally thought to be a tooth taxon; however, it is now known that in this genus, species have walrus tusks instead of a cetacean teeth. Thus, the authors assigned this species to the new genus Albicetus , creating the new combination of Albicetus oxymycterus , gen. The authors used the term " Albicetus ," or "white whale," because they were inspired by the fossil's bone-white color, in homage to Melville's famous fictitious leviathan Moby Dick. The authors also analyzed whale's body size in comparison to the sperm whale evolutionary tree.

You never know what you will find in a landfill. The fossils are believed to be million years old. Macias says that she was lucky to have spotted the fossils. Twenty-two years later, in , the complete fossil skeleton of a baleen whale was uncovered in Lompoc, California, in a bed of diatomaceous earth along with a small seal, other small whales, fish and birds. The evidence of marine animals that has been found could only be created by immense, recent, oceanic tidal waves.

How do ancient sperm whale fossils wind up at an elevation of 1, feet? The history of whales is well preserved in OC. The Southern California ocean has always been a good place for whales to live. Bowerman Landfill, near Irvine, uncovered the fossils in late May. The on-site paleontology contractor, Melissa Macias, of the engineering firm Psomas, spotted them as the construction crew was moving soil in preparation for development of a new waste disposal area.