Australia<\/a>, which scientists say was \u201conce a cradle\u201d for some of the most unusual whales in history.<\/p>\nResearchers made the new species discovery based on a partial skull fossil with attached ear bone found in June 2019 by Victoria resident Mr Dullard while walking along the beach.<\/p>\n
After recognising its scientific importance, the Victoria resident donated the fossil to Museums Victoria, where researchers carefully studied it in detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis kind of public discovery and its reporting to the museum is vital…Ross\u2019 discovery has unlocked an entire chapter of whale evolution we\u2019ve never seen before. It\u2019s a reminder that world-changing fossils can be found in your own backyard,\u201d said study co-author Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator at Museums Victoria Research Institute.<\/p>\n
Scientists found that the fragments belonged to a juvenile specimen just over two metres long.<\/p>\n
They concluded that it belonged to a group of early whales known as mammalodontids that lived around 30 to 23 million years ago.<\/p>\n
![\"Partial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Partial-skull-and-teeth-of-Janjucetus-dullardi.jpeg\")
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open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Partial skull and teeth of Janjucetus dullardi (Tom Breakwell\/Museums Victoria.)<\/p>\n
The latest find marks the third known mammalodontid species from Victoria, and only the fourth found worldwide.<\/p>\n
It is also the first of its kind to preserve teeth and inner ear structures in detail, revealing how early whales fed, heard, moved and behaved in the water.<\/p>\n
Using advanced CT scans of the ear bones, researchers hope to further understand how the early species sensed its environment for hunting and navigating the oceans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis fossil opens a window into how ancient whales grew and changed, and how evolution shaped their bodies as they adapted to life in the sea,\u201d Dr Fitzgerald said.<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019re entering a new phase of discovery. This region is rewriting the story of how whales came to rule the oceans, with some surprising plot twists!\u201d he added,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-71902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Janjucetus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755271758_293_Janjucetus-dullardi-calf-and-mother.png\")
<\/p>\n