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There were many species of cetaceans, or marine mammals, that have gone extinct over time. Here are 10 of the most terrifying extinct cetaceans:
1. Livyatan melvillei – a massive toothed whale with 36 sharp teeth, similar to those of a T-Rex.
2. Squalodon – a dolphin-like creature with a snout full of sharp teeth.
3. Zygorhiza – an ancient whale with a long snout and sharp teeth.
4. Aetiocetus – a whale with a long, narrow snout and sharp teeth used for catching fish.
5. Dorudon – an ancient whale with a long, narrow snout and sharp teeth used for catching fish.
6. Janjucetus – a prehistoric dolphin with a long snout and sharp teeth.
7. Pelagornis – a giant seabird with a wingspan of up to 24 feet that preyed on small cetaceans.
8. Thalassocnus – a prehistoric sea sloth that swam in the ocean and fed on small cetaceans.
9. Prosqualodon – a dolphin-like creature with long, curved teeth used for catching fish.
10. Xiphiacetus – a whale with a long snout and sharp teeth used for catching fish.
Overall, these extinct cetaceans were fierce predators that roamed the oceans long before humans even existed.
Extinct Animals
Several hundred years ago, the depictions of sea creatures by map makers were not too far from the actual and extinct creatures that once inhabited the oceans.
Sergey Mikhaylov/iStock/Thinkstock
In the past, whales were feared. Medieval maps of the world showed nightmarish sea monsters lurking on the edges of the known world, waiting to devour adventurous sailors. However, these enormous cetaceans have undergone a complete transformation and are now considered “majestic” creatures that people pay to see on boat tours.
Perhaps the ancient cartographers tapped into some ancestral memory. If we go back far enough, to the Eocene epoch about 40-50 million years ago, we would see some terrifying proto-whales lurking in the tidewaters. While it is common knowledge that our early ancestors emerged from the ocean, what is less known is that some of them were not impressed. These creatures took a look, said “meh,” and returned to the sea. However, this turnaround took millions of years of adaptation. Some of those refuseniks were the great-grannies and granddads of modern cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), and some of them bear a striking resemblance to medieval sea monsters. Here be monsters!
10: Maiacetus inuus
This ancient mammal was discovered with a surprising addition: a fossilized fetus.
University of Michigan/National Science Foundation
Imagine you’ve managed to get your hands on Dr. Who’s Tardis time machine and decided to give it a try. After punching in random numbers, you end up spinning back about 47.5 million years and landing at the seashore in prehistoric Pakistan. There, you spot an enormous, horrifying creature emerging from the water, looking like a hybrid of a crocodile and pterodactyl.
However, this is no lizard. It is an ancient mammal, which it proves by giving birth to a miniature version of itself. The baby comes out head-first, snapping the large teeth lining its long, predatory jaws.
While some modern whales, such as orcas, have teeth, most have baleen to filter krill. All of them are born tail-first. However, in the Eocene epoch, Maiacetus inuus babies were born head-first with well-developed teeth, ready for battle. Maiacetus means “mother whale,” and we know about their babies because, in 2000, paleontologists found the fossil of a female M. inuus in Pakistan. Not only was the fossil intact, but there was a fetus in her belly with impressive teeth, ready to emerge snout-first.
Paleontologists also know that this early cetacean species was amphibious, stumping across the shoreline on stubby legs and paddling ominously through the shallows, still dividing its time between land and sea [source: National Science Foundation].
9: Pakicetus inachus
Paleontologists realized they had an ancient whale on their hands when they noticed this creature had developed the capability for underwater hearing.
Photo courtesy Udo Schroter/Used under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 License
The shoreline is quiet, and water swirls around a few small rocks. However, upon closer inspection, these rocks appear to be blinking. Suddenly, a giant dog-rat with a snout like a wild boar on steroids emerges from the water, with a fish clenched in its jaws. This creature, believe it or not, is an ancient whale.
In the 1980s, a group of paleontologists were in search of fossils in Northern Pakistan when they stumbled upon the crest of a large skull. After unearthing it, they found that the brain cavity was relatively small compared to the size of the skull, and it also had a developed tympanic bone for limited underwater hearing. These two features led them to conclude that they had found a 50-million-year-old whale, which they named Pakicetus inachus. Unlike modern whales, P. inachus spent time on both land and sea, which may explain why it lacked the sophisticated hearing mechanisms found in later species. Its eyes were positioned on the side of its scalp, indicating that it hunted from below like an alligator.
Basilosaurus isis, which lived 40 million years ago, was originally called “king lizard” and was believed to be a massive dinosaur due to the fossilized vertebrae found in Mississippi and Alabama. However, it was actually a mammal – a whale with flippers for front legs and stubby hind feet. At 50 feet in length, it was a dangerous predator with sharp, curved teeth for ripping sharks to pieces. Dorudon atrox, a smaller version of Basilosaurus, also lived in the Tethys Ocean and was a menacing critter at roughly 15 feet in length with razor-sharp teeth. The fossil record indicates that Basilosaurus often preyed on Dorudons. It is interesting to note that the discovery of these ancient cetaceans has established a distant but significant relationship between modern whales and hippos.
6: Zygophyseter varolai
This predator is known as the “killer sperm whale” due to its expertise in using echolocation to locate and tear apart its tasty prey.
Photo credit: Notafly/Used under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 License/Wikimedia Commons
During the height of the whaling industry, spermaceti, a mixture of oil and wax found inside sperm whale heads, was highly sought after. A single whale can contain up to 500 gallons (1,900 litres) of the substance. While its biological purpose is still debated, the most probable explanation is that it serves as a resonator for echolocation. Modern sperm whales use echolocation to hunt for squid at great depths. They emit clicks and rely on the time interval between the sound and its reflection to quickly locate prey in the ocean’s depths. Although they possess lower teeth, they are rarely used.
This is not the case for one of their Miocene predecessors, which roamed the Mediterranean region around 10 million years ago. Known as Zygophyseter varolai, this whale is nicknamed the “killer sperm whale” because, like modern-day killer whales, it was likely similar in size and feeding habits. According to the fossil record, this 20-foot-long (6 meters) predator had a well-developed spermaceti organ for echolocating large, powerful prey and tearing them apart with its large, sharp, deeply rooted teeth [source: Bianucci and Landini]. Z. varolai also had an asymmetrical cranium, which is particularly associated with high-frequency sound production and echolocation. They used this attribute to locate and consume large swimmers that emitted high sonic frequencies [source: Fahlke et al.].
5: Janjucetus hunderi
Although Janjucetus belongs to the Mysticeti subgroup (whales that have baleen), it had massive teeth.
Photo credit: Cas Liber/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
In the late 1990s, a teenage surfer discovered a strange and terrifying fossil embedded in limestone on an Australian beach. It was a massive skull with enormous eye sockets and huge fangs. For more than six years, the fossil collected dust in a museum office until expert Erich Fitzgerald began studying it.
While some whales have teeth, others do not require them. For example, a blue whale swallows a large amount of seawater and then pushes it out through its large baleen, trapping small zooplankton called krill. This method works effectively, given that blue whales are the largest animals ever to have existed.
Modern whales are divided into two groups by scientists: those with teeth, such as orcas and right whales (Odontoceti), and those with baleen (Mysticeti). Evolutionary biologists once believed that the two groups separated when the Mysticeti developed baleen. However, Fitzgerald’s examination of the fossil, which he dubbed Janjucetus hunderi, refutes this assumption. Although J. hunderi is undoubtedly a member of the Mysticeti subgroup, it does not possess baleen. This early Mysticete, which lived 25 million years ago and was 10 feet long (3 meters), searched the seas for prey to consume with its large, sharp teeth [source: Fitzgerald].
4: Rodhocetus kasrani
Rodhocetus kasrani, an 8-foot-long (2 meters) and 500-pound (227 kilograms) creature, lived 45 million years ago. It had webbed hoofs that allowed it to move through water, and it had a mouthful of fangs and grinders to slice its prey into small pieces. Despite its differences from modern whales, it possessed whale-like traits, including a “mandibular fat pad,” which aided in directional hearing and helped the predator locate its next meal.
3: Ambulocetus natans
Ambulocetus natans was a 10-foot-long (3 meters) and 400-pound (180 kilograms) “walking whale” that lived 50 million years ago. It resembled a crocodile but had longer hind legs to help it move through water. With widely spaced eyes and webbed feet, it spent most of its time in shallow coastal waters. Paleontologists believe it played a significant role in the evolution of land creatures to sea creatures.
2: Squalodontidae
Squalodontidae is a family of extinct whales that lived millions of years ago. Agostino Scilla, an Italian painter, geologist, and paleontologist, drew and described one of its fossils from Malta in 1670. Squalodontidae is one of the earliest fossils to be documented in scientific literature.
A fossil of a jaw with three sharp, serrated teeth was discovered, belonging to a Squalodontid, also known as a “shark-toothed dolphin”, which were about 10 feet long. Unlike modern dolphin teeth, which are nonthreatening little bumps, Squalodontidae had large, curved, sharp fangs in front and serrated, triangular cheek teeth for slicing their prey up. It was once believed that modern dolphins were descended from squalodons, but it is now more likely that they died out before passing on their DNA.
The ancient sperm whale Leviathan melvillei, named after the author of “Moby Dick” and the Biblical monster Leviathan, was discovered in Peru and measured over 50 feet in length with 12-inch teeth lining its powerful jaws. Its prey was baleen whales, and it was one of the largest known predators to have ever existed. While modern sperm whales spend most of their time diving deep for cephalopods, Leviathan melvillei was the force of nature Melville wanted Moby Dick to be.
Additional Information
Related Articles
- Whale Anatomy
- Evolution of Whales
- Fossilization of Whales
- Baleen Whales and their Characteristics
- History of Whaling
- Extinction of Whales
Sources
- Bianucci, Giovanni and Walter Landini. “Killer sperm whale: a new basal physeteroid (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Late Miocene of Italy.” Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 148.1 (2006): 103-131. (Feb. 4, 2015) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00228.x/abstract
- Climo, F. M. and A. N. Baker. “A new shark-toothed dolphin (Cetacea Squalodontidae) from the upper Oligocene of New Zealand.” Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 2.1 (1972): 61-68. (Feb. 3, 2015) http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03036758.1972.10423305#.VNEcQGTF9WQ
- Fahlke, Julia M. “Bite marks revisited — evidence for middle-to-late Eocene Basilosaurus isis predation on Dorudon atrox (both Cetacea, Basilosauridae).” Palaeontologia Electronica 15.3 (2012): 32A. (Feb. 3, 2015) http://palaeo-electronica.org/content/pdfs/341.pdf
- Fahlke, Julia M., et al. “Cranial asymmetry in Eocene archaeocete whales and the evolution of directional hearing in water.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108.35 (2011): 14545-14548. (Feb. 10, 2015) http://www.pnas.org/content/108/35/14545.short
- Fitzgerald, Erich. “A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales.” Proceedings of The Royal Society. 2006. (Jan. 30, 2015) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1639514/pdf/rspb20063664.pdf
- Fordyce, R. Ewan. “Shark-toothed dolphins (Family Squalodontidae).” University of Otago, Department of Geology. (Feb. 4, 2015) http://www.otago.ac.nz/geology/research/paleontology/squalodontidae.html
- Gill, Victoria. “Ageing whales: Scars reveal social secrets.” BBC News. Jan. 29, 2013. (Feb. 2, 2015) http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30993208
- Gingerich, Philip D. “New Whale from the Eocene of Pakistan and the Origin of Cetacean Swimming.” Nature 368 (6474): 844-847. April 28, 1994. (Feb. 5, 2015) http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/62571/368844a0.pdf
- Gingerich, Philip D. et al. “Origin of whales from early artiodactyls: Hands and feet of Eocene Protocetidae from Pakistan.” Science 293.5538 (2001): 2239-2242. (Feb. 3, 2015) http://www.blc.arizona.edu/courses/schaffer/449/God in the Gaps/Early whale Hands and feet.pdf
- Gingerich, Philip D. “The whales of Tethys.” Natural History 103 (1994): 86-86. (Feb. 2, 2015) http://www-personal.umich.edu/~gingeric/PDFfiles/PDG272_WhalesTethys.pdf
- Mackay, R. Stuart. “A Theory of the Spermaceti Organ in Sperm Whale Sound Production.” NATO Advance Study Institutes Series. Volume 28, 1980, pp. 937-940. (Feb. 4, 2015) http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4684-7254-7_62
- National Science Foundation. “Early Whales Gave Birth on Land.” NSF Press Release. September 2013. (Feb. 2, 2015) http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114086
- Owen, James. “‘Killer’ Fossil Find May Rewrite Story of Whale Evolution.” National Geographic News. Aug. 16, 2006. (Feb. 5, 2015) http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060816-whale-fossil.html
- Polly, Paul David. “Pakicetus.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Aug. 28, 2014. (Feb. 2, 2015) http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1700783/Pakicetus
- Thewissen, Johannes G.M. et al. “Fossil evidence for the origin of aquatic locomotion in archaeocete whales.” Science 263.5144 (1994): 210-212. (Feb. 5, 2015) http://www.sciencemag.org/content/263/5144/210.short
- Thewissen, Johannes G.M. et al. “Skeletons of terrestrial cetaceans and the relationship of whales to artiodactyls.” Nature 413.6853 (2001): 277-281. http://www.faculty.virginia.edu/bio202/202-2002/Lectures 20202/thesissen et al 2001.pdf
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- Urbina, Mario and Jelle Reumer. “The giant bite of a new raptorial sperm whale from
The Miocene epoch of Peru is discussed in an article titled “Nature,” published in July 2010. The author is unknown, and the article can be found on the scholar.googleusercontent.com website. Another source that discusses macroevolution and the transformation of life is Carl Zimmer’s book “At the Water’s Edge,” which was published by Free Press in 1998. This book can be found on Google Books.
FAQ
1. What are some of the most terrifying extinct cetaceans?
Some of the most terrifying extinct cetaceans include the Livyatan melvillei, which was a giant predatory sperm whale that lived 12-13 million years ago, and the Basilosaurus isis, which was a serpentine whale with sharp teeth that lived 35-40 million years ago. Another terrifying cetacean was the Squalodon, which had a shark-like body and teeth that were adapted for hunting fish and other marine animals.
2. Why did these cetaceans go extinct?
There are several factors that may have contributed to the extinction of these cetaceans, including changes in climate and sea level, competition for resources, and predation by other marine animals. Additionally, human activities such as hunting and pollution may also have played a role in their extinction.
3. How did these cetaceans differ from modern whales and dolphins?
Extinct cetaceans often had larger teeth and were more predatory than modern whales and dolphins, which primarily feed on small fish and plankton. Additionally, some extinct cetaceans had different body shapes and adaptations for swimming and hunting, such as the serpentine body of the Basilosaurus and the shark-like body of the Squalodon.
4. How do scientists learn about these extinct cetaceans?
Scientists learn about extinct cetaceans by studying fossils that have been preserved in rocks and sediment. These fossils can provide information about the size, shape, and adaptations of these animals, as well as insights into their behavior and ecology. Additionally, genetic analysis can also provide information about the evolutionary relationships between extinct and modern cetaceans.
5. Could any of these extinct cetaceans be brought back to life through cloning?
It is unlikely that any of these extinct cetaceans could be brought back to life through cloning, as the DNA of these animals would have deteriorated over time. Additionally, even if viable DNA was found, there would be ethical and logistical challenges associated with attempting to recreate an extinct species. However, advances in genetic engineering and synthetic biology may allow scientists to create hybrid or modified versions of modern cetaceans with traits similar to those of extinct species.
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