A vast collection of whale fossils — stretching for hundreds of kilometers — has been discovered in the southeastern Indian Ocean, making it the largest whale fossil assemblage ever found.
According to sea-news.az the discovery was published in a scientific paper in the journal Nature, conducted by researchers from China, Italy, and New Zealand.
Some of the fossils are estimated to be over 5 million years old, making the site one of the oldest known whale fossil deposits. The remains were found in the Diamantina fracture zone, a tectonic structure located at depths exceeding 7 kilometers beneath the ocean surface.
Using deep-sea submersibles, scientists identified more than 470 whale fossils embedded within a tectonic formation that developed approximately 50–60 million years ago.
Among the findings are skeletons belonging to the now-extinct species Pterocetus benguelae. Researchers also identified previously unknown species, one of which has been named Pterocetus diamantinae, after the fracture zone itself.
Scientists say this discovery could provide crucial new insights into the evolution of whales and the history of deep-ocean ecosystems.
