The blue whale has long been considered the largest animal that has ever existed on the planet, but the discovery of a 37-million-year-old fossil just might have dethroned the mighty giant from this long-held title....
BITS ‘N’ PIECES
Narrated Abdullah bin Amr:
A person asked Allah’s Apostle. “What (sort of) deeds in (or what qualities of) Islam are good?” He replied, “To feed (the poor) and greet those whom you know and those whom you don’t know.”
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 27
The Perucetus colossus was the largest animal ever
The blue whale has long been considered the largest animal that has ever existed on the planet, but the discovery of a 37-million-year-old fossil just might have dethroned the mighty giant from this long-held title.
The partial remains of the Perucetus colossus, an early whale species from ancient Peru, suggest that the marine mammal may have been roughly 60-foot long and may have weighed as much as 300 tonnes. The blue whale, meanwhile, is more than 100 feet in length and weighs more than 200 tons. So while the Perucetus colossus may have been shorter, scientists believe it was possibly heavier.
The skeleton, discovered more than a decade ago, was so large that palaeontologists initially weren’t even convinced it was a fossil, since the huge bones almost looked like boulders. Research revealed that the animal possessed thick, dense bones, and, coupled with its immense size, meant that it rivalled, if not exceeded, the modern blue whale in weight.
- S.A.
bloviate (blow-vee-eyt)
verb
To speak at length. To talk verbosely or in a pompous manner. Often refers to someone talking for a long period but the words are empty and have no real meaning.
