Ancient Basilosaurus Skull Revealed

Last year paleontologists digging in Peru’s Ocucaje desert found an incredible ancient basilosaurus skull. This remarkable and large skull is the great ancestor of our modern day whales and dolphins. On Thursday, the public finally got to see this impressive skull on full display. This basilosaurus skull is four feet long and lined with sharp knife-life teeth. With a head that big can you just imagine what it can devour in a matter of seconds! Next to the skull is a rendering of what the whale could have looked like. I can imagine something of a giant crocodile head with eel like body swimming towards me and fainting.

Basilosaurus were a type of mammals that lived over 36 millions years ago. While their name means “King lizard” they were not land animals. They moved in the ocean like snakes due to their long bodies. The ancestors of these mammals that lived million years before them were land animals that slowly adapted to ocean life. Ten million years after the dinosaur extinction the basilosaurus became full time ocean dwellers. Now, we have over 90 cetaceans in the oceans, some which we have yet to discover or fully evaluate.

This skull probably belonged to a 39 foot ancient whale. For now, the team is calling this spectacular find the “Ocucaje Predator.” The official name will not be revealed until all the research and information on the species is published in a peer-reviewed journal. Ocucaje desert is where researches find a lot of fossils dating as far as 42 millions years ago. This fossil, while not as old, is still a monumental find. Now if we could only put on a pair of VR glasses and be in the presence of these creatures for a minute, that would be something.