Look out, blue whale – there's a new challenger for your heavyweight title!
A newly discovered whale that lived nearly 40 million years ago could be the heaviest animal to have ever lived. Parts of its enormous skeleton have just been found in the desert of Peru.
Today's blue whale has long been thought to be the largest and heaviest animal ever, beating all the giant dinosaurs of the past.
But Perucetus colossus – the name of the colossal whale from Peru – may have been even heavier.
Working from the massive bones found in Peru, an international team of scientists think that the animal had an average mass of 180 tonnes.
They estimate the ancient whale's weight could range between 85 and 340 tonnes!
