Whale Remains From 5 Million Years Ago Discovered on California Beach
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The partial remains of an ancient toothed whale species that roamed the ocean 5 million years ago have been discovered on a California beach.
Crews removing a 1,000-pound slab of sandstone off the Santa Cruz County beach Wednesday discovered the remains and called in paleontologists, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.
Frank Perry, a paleontologist with the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, says the remains are an important piece of a puzzle that will help understand what life was like when meat-eating toothed whales roamed the shallow seas that once covered the region. Their descendants include the orca and dolphin.
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Crews have not yet identified the exact species of the whale. Experts say the partial skull and several vertebrae found should make that possible.