News Paleontology

Meet the tiny ancient whale named after King Tut

Tutcetus rayanensis was only 2.5 meters long and weighed less than 200 kilograms

An illustration of the newly discovered ancient whale species.

The newly discovered ancient whale species Tutcetus rayanensis (illustrated) is one of the earliest and smallest members of the basilosaurid family.

Ahmed Morsi and Hesham Sallam

By Skyler Ware

Just days after the world was introduced to the heaviest known ancient whale, a much tinier member of the same family has been found on the other side of the planet.

The newly discovered species is one of the earliest — and smallest — basilosaurids, a family of ancient aquatic creatures related to modern whales, researchers report August 10 in Communications Biology.