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Perucetus is an extinct genus of an early whale from Peru that lived during the Bartonian age of the middle Eocene. Perucetus is the largest Eocene whale, with length estimates varying from 15–16 meters (49–52 ft) to 17–20 meters (56–66 ft).
[60] [61] Earlier variety were probably preyed upon by killer sperm whales and large sharks such as megalodon. In 2008, a large number of fossil ziphiids were discovered off the coast of South Africa, confirming the remaining ziphiid species might just be a remnant of a higher diversity that has since gone extinct.
Livyatan belongs to a different lineage in respect to the other raptorial sperm whales, and the size increase and the development of the spermaceti organ, an organ that is characteristic of sperm whales, are thought to have evolved independently from other raptorial sperm whales. The large teeth of the raptorial sperm whales either evolved once ...
Basilosaurus (meaning "king lizard") is a genus of large, predatory, prehistoric archaeocete whale from the late Eocene, approximately 41.3 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). First described in 1834, it was the first archaeocete and prehistoric whale known to science. [ 2 ]
[394] [395] These remains were later named Ichthyotitan and it has been estimated to reach up to 25 m (82 ft), which makes it the largest ichthyosaur and the largest marine reptile ever. [396] Another large ichthyosaur was the Late Triassic Shastasaurus sikanniensis at 21 m (69 ft) in length [397] [398] and 81.5 t (180,000 lb) in weight. [399]
The next diverging family of whales, the Ambulocetidae, were large, already fully aquatic, [8] and crocodile-like with large feet and a strong tail. Sediments indicate that they lived in coastal areas and their compact bones suggest that they were ambush rather than fast-pursuit predators.
The whale's remains suggest it's a smaller relative of Basilosaurus cetoides, which lived along Alabama's coast 34-40 million years ago.
The list of extinct cetaceans features the extinct genera and species of the order Cetacea. The cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are descendants of land-living mammals, the even-toed ungulates. The earliest cetaceans were still hoofed mammals.