Victoria, Australia — A team of Australian palaeontologists has revealed the discovery of a razor-toothed ancient whale species that roamed the oceans some 26 million years ago. While described as “deceptively cute” due to its small size and large eyes, researchers say the animal was a swift and formidable predator.
The discovery, led by Museums Victoria, centres on an exceptionally well-preserved skull fossil unearthed on Victoria’s Surf Coast in 2019. The find has now been identified as a new species, Janjucetus dullardi, named in honour of local resident Ross Dullard, who stumbled upon the skull during a beach walk.
“It’s essentially a little whale with big eyes and a mouth full of sharp, slicing teeth,” explained lead researcher Ruairidh Duncan. “Think of it as the shark-like version of a baleen whale — small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless.”
A Predator the Size of a Dolphin
Measuring roughly the length of a modern dolphin, Janjucetus dullardi belonged to a prehistoric group known as mammalodontids — smaller, distant relatives of today’s filter-feeding whales. Unlike its modern cousins, this species relied on speed and razor-sharp teeth to hunt, making it one of the more formidable predators of its time.
Palaeontologist Erich Fitzgerald, co-author of the study, highlighted the importance of the find:
“This fossil opens a window into how ancient whales grew and changed, and how evolution shaped their bodies as they adapted to life in the sea.”
A Hotspot for Prehistoric Whale Discoveries
The fossil site lies within the Jan Juc Formation, a geological layer dating back to the Oligocene epoch — between 23 and 30 million years ago. The Surf Coast has yielded a wealth of rare fossils, offering critical insights into early whale evolution.
“This region was once a cradle for some of the most unusual whales in history,” Fitzgerald noted. “We’re entering a new phase of discovery, rewriting the story of how whales came to rule the oceans — and the twists in that story are only just emerging.”
The findings have been formally described in the peer-reviewed Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, marking only the fourth mammalodontid species ever recorded.
