Ancient Freshwater Dolphin Species Just Found in the Peruvian Amazon
There are some incredible animals that roamed the earth and its oceans millions of years ago, and an ancient freshwater dolphin species was just discovered in the Peruvian Amazon. The Weather Channel shared the finding on Monday, March 1st, and it was an exciting find and one that the research world is proud of.
These ancient dolphins had fins, razor sharp teeth, and they were big! Researchers at the University of Zurich estimated that the 16-million-year-old fossil was more than 11 feet long and is said to be the longest freshwater dolphin ever found.
I thought that The Weather Channel's video was interesting, and wished it had been more detailed with more information about the find, like when did it happen, how much of the fossil was recovered, and were there others? The Independent reported that the ancient dolphin was named Pebanista yacuruna and was discovered by an international research team on the Napo River. Three weeks into the search, an undergraduate named Aldo Benites-Palomino, found the dolphin.
Related: World Wildlife Fund Shares Cool and Little-Known Fact About Dolphins
Interesting Dolphin Facts
While researchers are working to learn more about the dolphin they found, there are some interesting facts about current day dolphins that you may not know. Scientific American shared a fact about dolphins - and whales - that blew my mind. Have you ever heard the saying, "Sleep with one eye open"? Well dolphins and whales do this...literally! It's called "unihemispheric sleep" and it's necessary for their survival to prevent them from drowning. Basically, only one half of their brain sleeps at a time. Dolphins have a "voluntary respiratory system" and have to remain conscious so that they can use their blowhole to get air.
Another cool fact about only using half of their brain while sleeping is that these animals close the eye opposite of the side of the brain they are using; they are quite literally half asleep!
Dolphins generally sleep at night, but only for a couple of hours at a time. Dolphins sleep in one of two different ways, they either rest quietly while being still in the water and floating vertically or horizontally, or they sleep while swimming slowly next to another animal each other. A deeper form of sleep they enter into is referred to as logging, and the name is quite fitting since they look like a log floating on top of the water when they sleep this way.
Interestingly, new mothers cannot quit swimming at all during the first few weeks of their babies lives to prevent their babies from sinking. The calves do not have enough body fat to keep them buoyant, so to prevent them from drowning, mom need to sleep on the move. Us human parents know the feeling! This type of swimming is called echelon swimming.
Who knew that the way that an animal sleeps could be so interesting! It's always cute to watch dogs sleep and to catch them wagging their tails or even dreaming. Most animals do need sleep, but dolphins and a few others have figured out how to do it on the go. Pretty incredible!
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