<h5>Where was this discovery made?</h5><p>The blue whale might not be the heaviest mammal ever. Perucetus colossus, an ancient species of whale that lived approximately 38 million years ago, may have been heavier than a blue whale.</p><p>It has been named Perucetus colossus as its fossil was discovered in the Pisco Formation in the Ica Desert, a coastal area of Peru.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/newsahoot.appspot.com/o/this-ancient-whale-may-be-the-heaviest-animal-ever%2FBlue-Whale-0009.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=b99ca3b4-582e-4ead-b78d-dfab65fc4da2"><figcaption>Life-size model of a Blue whale. Photo by Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 2.0.</figcaption></figure><h5>What more did they learn about the whale?</h5><p>Blue whales, which are endangered, weigh around 100 and 150 tonnes. Some can weigh 200 tonnes. The scientists who made the discovery say the Perucetus colossus weighed between 85 and 340 tonnes. Their best guess is that the whale weighed roughly 180 tonnes. Their discovery has been published in the Nature journal.</p><p>The whale weighed so much due to its large and dense bones. They also think that the whale used to live in shallow coastal areas.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/newsahoot.appspot.com/o/this-ancient-whale-may-be-the-heaviest-animal-ever%2FPeru%20whale.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=f6183c9d-108d-4177-b711-b662fa075fd4"><figcaption>Scientists studying the discovered fossil. Photo by Giovanni Bianucci.</figcaption></figure><h5>What do other experts say about this discovery?</h5><p>Nicholas Pyenson, a palaeontologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, USA, says this discovery will rewrite history about how whales evolved. But he's not ready to say that Perucetus colossus weighed more than the blue whale.</p><p>He argues that it’s difficult to figure out the weight of an extinct species from its fossils. The remains are incomplete, and there’s no way to put muscles on the bones. The scientists who made the discovery also agreed and said it might have been heavier than the blue whale, but it's difficult to say so accurately.</p>

The fossilised remains of the whale were found in Peru.

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