Move over, blue whale. There is a new contender for the most massive animal in Earth's history. Scientists on Wednesday described fossils of an early whale unearthed in Peru called Perucetus colossus that lived about 38-40 million years ago during the Eocene epoch - a creature built somewhat like a manatee that may have topped the mass of the blue whale, long considered the heftiest animal on record. The researchers estimated that Perucetus (pronounced per-oo-SEE-tus) was about 66 feet (20 meters) long and weighed up to 340 metric tons, a mass that would exceed any other known animal including today's blue whale and the largest dinosaurs. Its scientific name means "colossal Peruvian whale." Scientists excavate a vertebra fossil of Perucetus colossus, a huge early whale that lived...
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