World's heaviest animal may be ancient whale found in the Peruvian desert, scientists say

The heaviest animal to have ever lived may have been an ancient colossal whale that was recently discovered in Peru, scientists said.

Scientists have been digging up massive fossils of the new species — named Perucetus colossus, or "the colossal whale from Peru" — in the Ica desert, a region in Peru that was once underwater over the past decade. The discovery was unveiled in a Nature journal published on Wednesday, Aug. 2.

According to the journal, titled "A heavyweight early whale pushes the boundaries of vertebrate morphology," researchers calculated the ancient giant weighed somewhere between 94 and 375 tons (85 and 340 metric tons). Its body stretched to around 66 feet (20 meters) long...