Researchers have found a fossil of the earliest known whale to live in the New World. It had four legs and could stand on land or swim in water.
, or “the traveling whale that reached the Pacific.” The name honors its role in helping scientists understand how early whales migrated from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and eventually to the New World, said Lambert, the study’s lead author.The specimen’s fossilized remains are not only very old, they are very much intact.
The connections between the bones indicated to the researchers that this whale had reached adulthood. It probably measured about 13 feet from tip to tail, and it weighed at least several hundred pounds. But Peregocetus also likely had webbed feet to help it swim, Lambert said. Just like an otter, it might start by pushing back on its hind limbs. Then it might shift to undulating its body up and down from the tail to the hip.
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