New species of

Australian scientists have discovered a given whale of razor that melted the seas 26 million years ago, saying that on Wednesday the species was “deceptively beautiful” but a fearsome predator.

The Victoria museums rebuilt the species of an unusually well preserved skull fossil found on the Coast of Surf de Victoria in 2019.

In a study published on Tuesday, scientists say they discovered a “fast and sharp predator” that would have been the size of a dolphin.

“It is essentially a whale with large eyes and a mouth full of sharp and cut teeth,” said researcher Ruairidh Duncan. “Imagine the version of a shark of a Baleen whale, small and misleading, but definitely not harmless.”

Museums Victoria released a video that shows Duncan discussing the discovery and how researchers could identify the species.

The skull belonged to a group of prehistoric whales known as Mammalodontids, smaller relatives of the current filter whales.

It is the fourth species of mammals never discovered, Museums Victoria said. And it is the third to be identified in Victoria after the discoveries in 2006 and 1939, the Broadcasting Corporation of Australia reported.

“This fossil opens a window on how ancient whales grew and changed, and how evolution shapes their bodies while adapting to life in the sea,” said paleontologist Erich Fitzgerald, who was co -author of the study.

The Coast of Surf de Victoria is located in the Jan Juc formation, a geological characteristic that dates from the time of the oligocene between 23 and 30 million years ago.

A series of rare fossils has been unearthed along the picturesque section of the beach, a renowned site for the study of early evolution of whales.

“This region was once a crib for some of the most unusual whales in history, and we are barely beginning to discover their stories,” said Fitzgerald. “We are entering a new discovery phase.

“This region is rewriting the story of how whales came to govern the oceans, with some surprising turns of the plot.”

Fitzgerald told ABC that the whale was exclusive to Australia.

“If they were alive today, they would be as iconically Australians as a kangaroo,” he said.

The species was named Janjucetus Dullardi, a wink to Ross Dullard local that ran into the skull while walking along the beach in 2019.

It was described in the revised zoo of the Linnean Society reviewed by peers.

The discovery occurs two years after scientists announced that they discovered an old whale in Peru that could be the Heavy animal of all time exist.

• Whales