Four-legged whale having lived 40 million years ago found off the Peruvian coast

Researchers have discovered fossils of a four-legged whale that lived off the coast of Peru more than 40 million years ago.

The mammal, which is estimated at 13 feet long, was named Peregocetus pacificus. The presence of small hooves at the ends of the fingers and the morphology of the hips and limbs led the researchers to think that he could walk on the mainland.

"This is the first indisputable record of a quadruped whale skeleton for the entire Pacific Ocean, probably the oldest for the Americas and the most complete outside of the world." India and Pakistan, "said Olivier Lambert of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in a statement.

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Lambert continued: "While digging around the flush bones, we quickly realized that it was the skeleton of a quadruped whale, with the fore limbs and hind limbs."

In addition to the four limbs, which made it possible to walk on land and return to the sea, Peregocetus probably also had an elongated muzzle and teeth to capture his prey. Modern whales use baleen, made from the same protein as hair and nails, to capture their prey.

"The moderately elongated muzzle with strong anterior teeth with strongly ornamented enamelled and sheared molars suggests that this medium-sized protocetide was able to attack relatively large prey, for example, large bony fish, interpreted by nasal apical dentition, "Lambert said in comments obtained by SWNS.

Ancient whale finds have mainly occurred in India and Pakistan, but the discovery of Peregocetus marks a new era for researchers, Lambert said.

"This is the first indisputable record of a quadruped whale skeleton for the entire Pacific Ocean, probably the oldest in the Americas and the most complete outside of the world. India and Pakistan, "added.

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The results were published in the journal Current Biology.