Fossilised body parts from a previously unknown Australian whale species have been discovered by a man during a beach walk. Only a few teeth and fragments of the skull were unearthed by erosion at the base of a cliff between Jan Juc on Victoria’s southwest coast and world-famous Bells Beach.
Scientists from Museums Victoria’s Research Institute have reconstructed how the tiny 26-million-year-old whale once looked. Its senior curator, Dr Erich Fitzgerald, explained that Janjucetus dullardi was no bigger than a dolphin, making it small by modern standards, but it was a formidable predator with flesh-cutting teeth that were more brutal than those of a lion.
“They are extremely sharp for a whale, and very different to any alive today,” he said.
“Not only that, the jawbones of Janjucetus dullardi are quite heavily built, and on the back end of the skull, there are very large areas for the attachment of jaw-closing muscles. So it all points to this animal being pretty powerful for its size.”
Janjucetus dullardi was much smaller than modern-day fin whales. Source: Erich Fitzgerald
Whale discovery made by man with ‘sixth sense’ for finding fossils
Fossils of similar species of toothed-baleen whales date from between 27 and 23 million years old, but reconstruction of their evolutionary tree suggests the whales originated around 34 million years ago. This whale family is almost unique to Australia, and it’s thought they probably evolved in isolation.
Most fossils are only uncovered after erosion exposes them, and few people have the skill to recognise them. The remnants of Janjucetus dullardi were discovered by a local man Ross Dullard back in 2019, who understood their importance, and the species has been named in his honour. When he later returned to search for more, the area was further eroded and anything that was momentarily exposed had been reclaimed by nature.
An illustration based on the fossil fragments shows a mother and calf Janjucetus dullardi. Source: Ruairidh Duncan
Fitzgerald describes Dullard as one of a handful of people who “have a sixth sense for spotting fossils”. Another is a prospector in the southwest Victorian town of Inverloch, Melissa Lowery, who has discovered dozens of ancient artefacts, including 129-million-year-old bird footprints.
“Funnily enough, they seem to be far more adept at finding fossils than professional paleontologists. They just have the eyes for it. The key is they look at everything, whereas professional scientists are just looking for what they study — clean, prepared fossils,” Fitzgerald said.
Could the whale have taken on a human?
It’s unknown why these primitive creatures vanished from the Earth, but it’s thought a relatively sudden cooling driven by glaciation in Antarctica led to a sea level fall around the coast of Victoria, and they lost their habitat.
If Janjucetus dullardi was still alive today, Fitzgerald suspects a human would have been outside of the size range of prey species.
This picture shows the isolated upper and lower teeth of Janjucetus dullardi. Source: Tom Breakwell via Museums Victoria
Three southeast Australian toothed whale skulls. Mammalodon colliveri (left), Janjucetus dullardi (middle) and Janjucetus hunderi (right). Source: Tom Breakwell via Museums Victoria
From studying more complete fossils of its relative Janjucetus hunderi, they know the whale had a relatively small brain, and therefore was not capable of complex behaviours and social structures of dolphins or orcas.
“But when you put that together with its armament, I personally wouldn’t want to test it by getting in the water with one,” he said.
“It would probably not be unlike getting in the water today with a leopard seal, which is something that’s potentially very dangerous.”
The Janjucetus dullardi fossils won’t be placed on display at Melbourne’s museum immediately, as it’s still the subject of PhD research. The description of the whale has been published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, identifying the bones as coming from a juvenile.
“It’s still being studied, but we hope to display it one day in the future,” Fitzgerald added.
The whale was discovered near Jan Juc beach in Victoria. Source: Museums Victoria
Love Australia’s weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week’s best stories.
