In a recently published study, scientists have described a prehistoric reptile that lived in the oceans and could potentially be the largest animal to have ever lived on earth. In the paper scientists describe an animal that belonged to a 3.2 foot long jawbone found in England. They believe the animal to have been 85-feet long, just shy of the largest animal to have ever lived on earth, the blue whale.
In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B scientists have zeroed in on the cause and effect of blue whales colossal size. The scientists equated whale gigantism to climatic change and greater food source. Since baleen whales such as blues, fins, and bowhead whales filter feed on small organisms, a boom in krill and other similar food sources sparked the leap to giant size. Prior to the boom, which correlated with ice sheets covering the Northern Hemisphere 4.5 million years ago, blue whales were a fraction of the size they are today.