Nearly 20 million years in the past, Switzerland was part of an Island populated by fish, sharks, and dolphins, with mussels and sea urchins on the seabed. Paleontologists on the College of Zurich have investigated over 300 whale and dolphin fossils from this era. Robust currents pulled the animal skeletons throughout the ocean ground. They scattered the bones, in keeping with the necessary pure historical past and palaeontology collections in Switzerland, which primarily comprise fragments of tooth, vertebrae, and ear bones discovered within the Higher Marine Molasse.
Scientists have found two beforehand unknown species associated to fashionable sperm whales and oceanic dolphins primarily based on their discovered earbones.
Whereas classifying particular person species, they recognized bones from the inside ear. These bones are much less generally discovered.
Paleontologist Gabriel Aguirre, summarizing the research outcomes, mentioned, “However, we managed to establish two households of dolphins beforehand unknown in Switzerland.”
Scientists used micro-computed tomography to reconstruct the softer organs across the arduous ear bones to create 3D fashions of the ears. This helped scientists to research the dolphins’ listening to means higher.
The research means that the extinct animals are associated to sperm whales and oceanic dolphins dwelling immediately.
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