第1922期:Ancient Whale May Be Heaviest Animal Ever Found

Scientists have discovered fossils that might have belonged to the heaviest animal in Earth’s history. The blue whale holds the current record as the largest creature to live on Earth. But a collection of bones found in Peru might break that record. Researchers recently introduced the whale species in a study in the publication Nature. It is called Perucetus colossus, or “the colossal whale from Peru.” Each back bone, or vertebra, weighs more than 100 kilograms. The animal’s ribs measure nearly 1.4 meters long. Mario Urbina discovered the bones in 2012. He is with the University of San Marcos’ Natural History Museum in Lima. An international team spent years digging them out from the side of a rocky hill in the Ica desert.

科学家们发现了可能属于地球历史上最重动物的化石。蓝鲸保持着目前地球上最大生物的记录。但在秘鲁发现的一组骨头可能会打破这一记录。研究人员最近在《自然》杂志上的一项研究中介绍了鲸鱼的种类。它被称为Perucetus colossus，或“来自秘鲁的巨型鲸鱼”。每块背骨或椎骨重超过 100 公斤。该动物的肋骨长近1.4米。Mario Urbina 于 2012 年发现了这些骨头。他在利马圣马科斯大学自然历史博物馆工作。一个国际团队花了数年时间从伊卡沙漠的一座岩石山坡上挖出了它们。

The area was once underwater and is known for its rich collection of ocean fossils. The find resulted in 13 backbone vertebrae, four ribs and a hip bone. The large fossils date back to around 39 million years ago. Alberto Collareta is a paleontologist at Italy's University of Pisa. He was a lead writer of the study. He told The Associated Press the fossils were “unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Hans Thewissen is a paleontologist at Northeast Ohio Medical University who did not take part in the research. He said, “It’s just exciting to see such a giant animal that’s so different from anything we know." After the digging operation, the researchers used 3D scanners to study the surface of the bones and also looked inside. The researchers used the huge but incomplete skeleton to estimate the whale's size and weight, said Eli Amson. He is a paleontologist at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany.

该地区曾经位于水下，以其丰富的海洋化石而闻名。这次发现发现了 13 块脊椎骨、四块肋骨和一块髋骨。这些大型化石的历史可以追溯到大约 3900 万年前。阿尔贝托·科拉雷塔 (Alberto Collareta) 是意大利比萨大学的古生物学家。他是该研究的主要作者。他告诉美联社，这些化石“与我见过的任何东西都不一样”。汉斯·泰维森 (Hans Thewissen) 是东北俄亥俄医科大学的古生物学家，他没有参与这项研究。他说：“看到如此巨大的动物真是太令人兴奋了，它与我们所知道的任何东西都如此不同。”挖掘作业结束后，研究人员使用 3D 扫描仪研究了骨头的表面，并观察了内部。研究人员使用了巨大但德国斯图加特国家自然历史博物馆的古生物学家伊莱·阿姆森 (Eli Amson) 说，利用不完整的骨骼来估计鲸鱼的大小和重量。

The team estimates the ancient creature weighed somewhere between 85 and 340 metric tons. The biggest blue whales found have been within that range, at about 180 metric tons. The body of Perucetus colossus stretched about 20 meters long. Blue whales can be longer, with some growing to more than 30 meters. This means the newly discovered whale was "possibly the heaviest animal ever,” said the University of Pisa’s Collareta. But, he added, “it was most likely not the longest animal ever.” The research team said one reason the animal weighs more is because its bones are much denser and heavier than a blue whale’s bones. Those super-dense bones suggest the whale may have spent its time in less deep, coastal waters, the scientists said. Other animals that stay close to the coast, like manatees, have heavy bones to help them stay close to the seafloor.

研究小组估计这种古代生物的重量在 85 至 340 吨之间。发现的最大蓝鲸也在这个范围内，重约 180 吨。巨鲵的身体长达约20米。蓝鲸可以更长，有的可以长到30多米。比萨大学的科拉雷塔说，这意味着新发现的鲸鱼“可能是有史以来最重的动物”。但是，他补充说，“它很可能不是有史以来最长的动物。”研究小组表示，这种动物体重增加的原因之一是它的骨头比蓝鲸的骨头更致密、更重。科学家们说，这些超致密的骨头表明鲸鱼可能在较浅的沿海水域度过了它的时光。靠近海岸的动物，如海牛，有厚重的骨头，帮助它们靠近海底。

Amson, from the State Museum of Natural History in Germany, said that without the skull, it is hard to know what the whale was eating to support such a huge body. It is possible that the large creature sought food along the seafloor, the researchers said. Or it could have eaten up tons of smaller sea life in the ocean. Thewissen added that he would not be surprised “if this thing actually fed in a totally different way that we would never imagine.”

德国国家自然历史博物馆的阿姆森表示，如果没有头骨，很难知道鲸鱼靠吃什么来支撑如此庞大的身体。研究人员表示，这种大型生物有可能沿着海底寻找食物。或者它可能会吃掉海洋中大量较小的海洋生物。Thewissen 补充说，“如果这东西实际上以一种我们从未想象过的完全不同的方式进食，他不会感到惊讶。”