From eating other whales to terrorizing the sea,, here are 10 amazing facts about the
Livyatan Melvillei- the deadliest whale to ever live!
10.
Megalodon, Beware!
Dating the remains that have been found of Livyatan Melvillei show that it lived in the
world’s oceans about 13 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch.
It was by far the largest predatory whale of its time!
During the Miocene epoch, the ocean was full of huge and varied species that provided the
Livyatan with plenty to feast on.
It would, however, have had a mighty foe in the waters in the form of the Megalodon!
It is believed that these creatures overlapped at some point and lived at around the same
time.
The mega shark was a similar size to the Livyatan and, while its thought unlikely that the two
would have hunted each other, it’s quite possible that they came up against one another
in the pursuit of prey.
Most experts think, for a number of reasons that the Livyatan would have come out victorious
if this ever happened.
9.
How big were they?
Livyatan Melvillei was a legendary whale of prehistoric times that was a ferocious predator
of the oceans but, surprisingly, it was quite a modest size- growing to be between 45 and
60 feet in length.
And they weighed about 50 tons- that’s the same as 6 elephants!
They were about the same size as a sperm whale, but nowhere near the huge 100 feet that a
blue whale can reach.
After all, it is the largest creature to have ever lived!
This doesn’t mean, however, that the Livyatan Melvillei was in any way comparable to a sperm
whale, though- they were far more dangerous and deadly than any whale that’s alive today.
8.
Where did it live?
The first confirmed discovery of Livyatan Melvillei remains was made in 12 million-year-old
sediments of the Pisco formation in southern Peru.
It’s a region that, because of various geological processes, isn’t the best for fossil discovery.
But it is a site that’s well known for the discovery of a number of ancient whale species,
some predating Livyatan by tens of millions of years, and also giant prehistoric penguins,
like the Inkayacu and Icadyptes, that were the same size as humans!
The Livyatan, therefore, roamed the waves around South America but is thought to have
lived in similar territories that sperm whales live in today.
Some evidence has suggested they made it to North America, and the remains of close relatives
have been found as far away as Australia- meaning their reach could have been throughout
the shallower coastal regions of the entire world.
They weren't thought to have favored deep waters, though, mainly because food was in
much more plentiful supply in the warmer, shallower areas.
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7.
Whale Ancestors
Livyatan Melvillei were the ancestors to all of the toothed whales that still exist today,
and share a number of recognizable features.
They are classed as ‘physeteroids’, which are a family of whales that stretch back in
the fossil record about 20 million years!!
There have been a number of different species of physeteroid that have, like the Livyatan,
gone extinct… such as the Acrophyseter and the Brygmophyseter, but there's 3 that have
survived through to today.
Do you know what they are?
Leave your guess in the comments below!!
The answer is coming up!!
As you’ll find out, characteristics such as structures within their skulls, their size,
and the fact that they have teeth in their mouths are still present… but everything
else about the Livyatan was very, very different to the whales we see today.
6.
How did they hunt?
Living at such competitive times for food, Livyatan Melvillei were well adapted to hunting
at sea.
Like other species, they had a large forehead, which contains what is known as a ‘spermaceti
organ’, which is full of wax and oil reservoirs with connective tissue.
This organ’s ability to harden when needed is the way that whales are believed to be
able to withstand the pressures involved in diving to such depths, but many believe the
Livyatan used it for a different purpose- as a battering ram.
These ancient whales existed before Sperm whales species began diving deep to hunt squid
and, with such a wealth of prey near the surface, it had no need to.
Instead, they incapacitated large prey by ramming into it, which would have given them
a massive advantage.
This use of the spermaceti organ has even been seen in recent times, with at least two
19th century whaling ships having been sunk when male whales punched holes in their sides,
which adds further credence to the idea that this was their normal behavior.
But, even without all that, they had giant teeth about 15 inches long.
It’s mouth was about 9 feet long and 7 feet wide, with their teeth placed perfectly for
grabbing and ripping out flesh.
They had powerful biting muscles and fossil hunters from Europe wrote an article called
The Giant Bite, with good reason!
It had the largest bite of any tetrapod.
Based on all of this, plus the fact that it had a bigger brain, it would have been smart
and quick to react so most prey didn’t stand a chance!!
It basically ate other whales for breakfast!!
5.
The Name
Leviathan is a type of dragon or sea monster referenced in the Bible.
This massive and swift serpent is believed to come from ancient myth and was defeated
by God and then given as food to the Hebrews in the wilderness.
When the first report about the whale’s discovery was published in 2010, its genus
was named after the English name of the legendary monster, the Leviathan, along with the species
name, melvillei, in honour of Herman Melville, who wrote Moby Dick- the story of Captain
Ahab’s obsession with hunting a giant sperm whale.
However, soon after the report was published it was pointed out to the authors that the
name ‘Leviathan’ had already been used to describe a type of obscure mastodon, so
they had to change it, even though it was perfect!
In order to correct it, it’s genus is known by the original Hebrew name of the legendary
monster, the Livyatan, while retaining their ode to the author.
4.
Fossil Remains
While researchers know quite a lot about the Livyatan, most of this is information that
has been deduced based upon their knowledge of how similar animals behaved.
So far, only the remains of the Livyatan’s head have ever been found.
In 2008, on the last day of a paleontological dig in the Pisco-Ica desert in Peru, scientists
discovered a large cetacean skull.
The enormous teeth told them that they had found the leviathan.
From this skull, it's clear where the spermaceti organ would have been, but there are a number
of interesting differences to the sperm whales of today.
It actually much more resembles that of a killer whale, although being about three times
larger.
Its mouth was full of teeth, which means it probably hunted in a similar way to how killer
whales do and had a huge temporal fossa, which is the depression found on the side of the
skull.
This is where the jaw muscles are, which means it’s bit would have been incredibly powerful-
far more so than the sperm whales of today.
3.
What did they eat?
As we’ve seen, the Livyatan was an incredibly efficient hunting machine.
They used echolocation to target their prey, and could use their head as a battering ram
against larger creatures, and their strong jaws to tear at flesh.
This meant that virtually anything that lived in the ocean was potential prey of the Livyatan-
with the only exception being organisms that were too small for it to care about.
So short answer of what did they eat?
Everything.
The bigger the better!
Being at the top of the food chain, they would have had to consume huge amounts every day-
and their diet is thought to have primarily consisted of other large blubbery whale species,
dolphins, and seals.
It would, most likely, have taken on anything that it was able to catch, since it was probably
hungry all the time.
It was able to reach speeds of up to 31 miles per hour when needed, so nothing was safe.
Shark species, including the Megalodon, and other large fish would have been just as appealing-
which is a far cry from the sperm whales of today whose diet consists mainly of plankton.
Humans wouldn’t have stood a chance if we were around at the same time as the Livyatan,
as their huge heads meant they would have been able to swallow us whole… we would
have been no more than just an appetizer for this giant!
2.
Why did they die out?
The Livyatan lived at the same time as a number of other large ocean predators- which is no
coincidence.
It was a time when life in the sea was abundant, and there was plenty of food to sustain populations
of such large creatures.
This environment that let the Livyatan, and the Megalodon, thrive, was also what ultimately
led to their downfall.
We don't know precisely when they went extinct, but at the end of the Miocene epoch, the planet
experienced a period of change which saw fluctuating ocean temperatures and currents.
This would have drastically impacted the numbers of dolphins, seals, smaller whales, and other
animals lower down the food chain which, in turn, meant that the apex predators had a
rapidly dwindling food supply.
Livyatan would have been forced to move to shallower regions where there was more food
but, in the end, there just wouldn’t have been enough to survive.
The huge amount of food required to sustain large carnivores is one of the main reasons
why no such creatures exist today.
Those that prey solely on meat tend to be much leaner and size efficient in order to
cope with changing conditions- with the largest animals being ones that are able to continually
feed on vegetation.
And now for number 1, but for those of you who guessed, the 3 physeteroids alive today
are the the Pygmy Sperm whale, the Dwarf Sperm Whale, and the full-sized Sperm Whale.
So if you said Sperm Whale, you win!!
1.
What big teeth you have!
When talking about animals with giant teeth, you'd probably think of the Tyrannosaurus
Rex, a Sabre-Toothed Tiger, or maybe even the Megalodon….
But the Livyatan had the largest teeth in its mouth of any known creature- they grew
to a massive 14 inches long.
T-Rex teeth, in comparison, would reach up to 12 inches, Sabretooth teeth grew to 11
inches, and the largest Megalodon teeth that have ever been found are just under 8 inches
long.
Interestingly this doesn't mean they had the deadliest teeth, though.
Despite being so large, the teeth of other animals can be considerably sharper than those
of the Leviathan.
It was the combination of the size and the power of their jaw that meant that they could
cause extreme damage.
Theirs was the biggest bite of any whale species that has ever lived, and one of the deadliest
of any creature to live in the world’s oceans.
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