Extract from ABC News
The newly classified Janjucetus dullardi was about two metres long, with large eyes and razor sharp teeth. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
In short:
Scientists from Museums Victoria have uncovered a new species of ancient whale in the first discovery of its kind in almost two decades.
A 25-million-year-old fossil found in Jan Juc on Victoria's Surf Coast has been classified as Janjucetus dullardi — a short snout whale with large forward-facing eyes and razor sharp teeth said to be small enough to fit in a car.
What's next?
The research team will use the discovery to form new insights into the evolution of baleen whales, such as the humpback and blue whale.
Researchers have hailed the discovery of an ancient whale species in Australia's south-east as a milestone in marine science.
Found near Jan Juc on Victoria's Surf Coast in 2019, the fossil of a baleen whale has today been described as the Janjucetus dullardi — an "entirely new species of prehistoric whale".
"This is a whale that was unknown to science," Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the Museums Victoria Research Institute told the ABC.
The size comparison of the Janjucetus dullardi whale against a human and a fin whale, which is the second longest baleen whale. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
"What is really significant about this new species of fossil whale is that it actually is an ancient ancestor of today's baleen whales, and that includes gentle giants like humpback whale and blue whale."
The Janjucetus dullardi lived 25 million years ago and belongs to an extinct genus of baleen whales — which instead of teeth, have baleens, or hard plates, attached to their jaws — called Mammalodontids.
Scientists have been studying the partial skull and teeth found at Jan Juc in Victoria. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
But unlike others in the family, the new species named on Wednesday has big eyes, sharp teeth and is just over 2 metres in length, a tiny size by whale standards.
Scientists behind the study said it appeared the Janjucetus dullardi was built for hunting and would have been a fearsome predator in ancient Victorian seas.
"It's essentially a little whale with big eyes and a mouth full of sharp, slicing teeth … small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless," said Ruairidh Dunac, a PhD student at Monash University.
'Iconically Australian'
The discovery marks just the third mammalodontid species to be identified in Victoria following discoveries in 2006 and 1939, and the fourth worldwide, but it's the first time an ancient whale fossil has been found with both teeth and inner structures preserved in detail.
Mammalodontids lived only during the Oligocene Epoch, a geological period that lasted from about 33 to 23 million years ago. Despite the three named species, most mammalodontid material remains undescribed.
Dr Erich Fitzgerald holds the teeth and partial fossil skull found at Jan Juc. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
It's the first time in nearly two decades that a new species of fossil whale has been named from Australia.
Researchers say the condition of the fossil will improve understanding of the behaviours of early whales, particularly how they adapted to warmer oceans in ancient times, which may then help predict how modern marine ecosystems will adapt to climate change in coming years.
The Jan Juc Formation south-west of Victoria's Torquay has yielded several fossils of aquatic mammals in the past, with the coastal stretch around the region earning international recognition for early whale evolution.
Dr Fitzgerald said contributions from the community underpinned most breakthroughs in paleontology.
"These discoveries often rely on the keen eyes and generosity of members of the public, in bringing to the attention of museums fossils they might find while out there beachcombing or looking amongst rocks in parts of Australia where there are fossils," he said.
"We now want to know when and where they began their story and ultimately what led to their extinction."
The fossil was found on Jan Juc beach by a resident in 2019. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
Dr Fitzgerald said the whale was unique to Australia.
"If they were alive today, they would be as iconically Australian as a kangaroo."
The Janjucetus dullardi is named in honour of local resident Ross Dullard, who found the fossil during a walk along the beach at Jan Juc before donating it to Museums Victoria.
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