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The Basilosaurus had dangerously sharp teeth.
His skull can now be admired in the Natural History Museum of Lima.
Photo: Sebastian Castaneda / REUTERS
A monster roamed the seas of prehistoric times, shaped like a fat water snake and up to 18 meters long: the Basilosaurus, the »king lizard«.
Contrary to its name, it was not a real dinosaur but probably the largest mammal of its time.
He lived about 41 to 35 million years ago, today he is counted among the whales.
Scientists recently unearthed the petrified remains of one such giant animal in the desert of Peru and have now presented it to the public in Lima.
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The skull of the Basilosaurus is complete, said paleontologist Mario Urbina, who led the excavation in southern Peru's Ocucaje Desert.
At the end of last year, the researchers involved made the spectacular find, and the head of the primeval whale has now been presented in the Natural History Museum in Lima.
"This find is very significant because there are no other similar specimens in the world," said Urbina, who conducts research at San Marcos University in Lima.
The excellent state of preservation of the fossil is also exceptional.
Millions of years ago, where the Ocucaje Desert is today, there was a sea in whose deposits the remains of prehistoric sea animals have repeatedly been found.
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"This animal was one of the greatest predators of its time," said Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, who heads the department of vertebrate paleontology at the museum.
The Basilosaurus differs from other well-known primeval whales not only in its size, but also in its teeth.
It probably used its large, strong teeth to feed on tuna, sharks and schools of sardines.
The researchers assume that the whale was a predator at the top of the food chain.
Its caudal fin is reminiscent of the fluke of modern whales.
The first ancestors of whales, like the Basilosaurus, arose about 55 million years ago - when land animals made their way back to the sea.
The real dinosaurs had been extinct for more than ten million years at that time.
vki/AFP/Reuters
