#basilosaurid

[knuppitalism-with-ue]

Please welcome Perucetus, the new - and largest- known archeoceti.

A whale of enormous proportions. While it's exact size and weight is certainly a matter of heated debates it was no doubt a really big boi. Here a quick sketch of it approaching a time traveler.

[ppaleoartistgallery]

#Paleostream 21/12/2024

here's yesterday's #Paleostream sketches!!! (late post because i had to leave early for a Christmas party)

yesterday we drew Parapuzosia, Aerosteon, Carinodens, and Perucetus

[doomyte]

Critters from tonight’s Paleostream Flocking!

[extinctcreaturesdaily]

today's daily is: the supayacetus! (s. muizoni)

[hurglewurm]

hello basilosaurid nation i have been thinking about the perucetus colossus and his tiny little legs !

[id: three drawings of a whale-like animal. they are roughly seal-shaped in terms of body, with a round flat tail and a small protruding oval head. all three have small back legs and feet. the first, coloured purplish, has flipper-like anterior appendages. the second, coloured blue, has big hands at the end of long, wide arms. the third is greenish, and has traditional finger-less whale fins. end id]

[vickysaurus]

Cynthiacetus. Humans are probably lucky we didn't go to sea until whales that eat large prey were mostly a thing of the past. Then again, orcas don't seem to view us as prey despite hunting plenty of animals our size, so maybe the early whales wouldn't have cared for a bite of human either.

[huxley-paleozoo]

Have smaller basilosaurids such as Dorudon inhabit the park, or do any plans exist of implementing them?

Hey, anon!

Cetaceans are…tricky. I don’t know if there are any plans in the near or distant future to add a stock of cetaceans to our growing menagerie, but I’m leaning more towards “no.” The amount of dedication and research put into caring our extinct aquatic life is incredible. Now, add the social stimulation needed for a psychologically healthy family of cetaceans, and that’s a headache for the record books!

If any new developments come through – clearance for more space, even better refined husbandry practices, etc. – we’ll be sure to let you all know.

- Erick

[hurglewurm]

While blue whales are sleek, fast-swimming divers, Perucetus was a very different beast. The researchers suspect that it drifted lazily through shallow coastal waters like a mammoth manatee, propelling its sausage-like body with a paddle-shaped tail. “This is a weird and stupendous fossil, for sure,” said Nicholas Pyenson, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the study. “It’s clear from this discovery that there are so many other ways of being a whale that we have not yet discovered.” The head of Perucetus would have adaptations for whichever way of life it pursued. “I would love to see the skull of this guy,” Dr. Thewissen said.

excerpts from the NYT article about the Perucetus colossus by Carl Zimmer

(illustration by Alberto Gennari, 2023)