Scientists discover Giant Ancient Dolphin Skull in Amazon
In 2018, a young undergraduate student named Aldo Benites-Palomino unearthed a fossil unlike any other. It was the fossilised skull of a giant river dolphin that swam in the Amazonian rivers 16 million years ago.
This extinct species, named Pebanista yacuruna, measured up to 3.5 meters long, making it the largest river dolphin ever discovered. It was a member of the Platanistoidea family, a group of dolphins that thrived in oceans between 24 and 16 million years ago.
According to the study published in Science Advances, Pebanista yacuruna belonged to the Platanistoidea family. This family of dolphins was common in oceans between 24 and 16 million years ago.
The surviving river dolphins are remnants of what were once greatly diverse marine dolphin groups. These marine groups are be...