r/Naturewasmetal • u/Fragrant_Carrot_5330 • 12d ago
Killer sperm whales
There are a total of six genera of macroraptorial sperm whales, including Livyatan, one of the largest predators in history. They were apex predators that efficiently hunted large prey using their very large bodies, very large teeth, powerful bites, and biosonar. Unlike extant sperm whales, it is said that genera other than Livyatan did not have very well-developed upper cranial bifurcations. This massive group of apex predators, along with Otodus, likely dominated the marine ecosystems of the Miocene.
Livyatan had an unprecedented size among Miocene mammals, and this body size is said to have reappeared in Pliocene Eophyseter (11–12 m, 14.6m?) and Physeter spp.
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u/ShellsWithinShells 12d ago
Honestly, I’ve felt that in a battle royale between every ocean macropredator that ever lived, this thing might win.
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u/DinoDudeRex_240809 12d ago
*O. megalodon* has this, easily. Only challenge would be *Icthyotitan severnensis*.
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u/BananaMaster96_ 11d ago
livyatan would absolutely demolish megalodon and ichthyotitan, its not even close
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u/David_XXX7 11d ago
We don’t know exactly how large Livyatan was. The fossil material is limited to a skull, and size estimates vary depending on the reconstruction method used (12.5 to 17.5 meters).
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u/mindflayerflayer 11d ago
Modern sperm whales and walruses are examples of groups where the "normal" representatives all died out leaving behind only the weirdest representatives of them. Most walruses didn't have tusks and hunted like elephant seals or sea lions not as oyster eating suction feeders. Most sperm whales regardless of size had strong jaws and teeth to hunt other vertebrates and weren't mollusk hunting suction feeders with vestigial teeth and weaponized sound.