Thank you to all my co-authors and supervisors @palaeowhales.bsky.social, @palaeo-jrule.bsky.social, Travis Park, Alistair Evans and Justin Adams. The artwork associated with this work is also only as good as it is thanks to the input of the excellent Zev Landes.

The discovery of the third Australian mammalodontid species suggests that whatever that history was, the nexus was to be found in the shallow oceans that once covered prehistoric Jan Juc.

The paper was published in open access and can be found here: academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

Mammalodontids are perhaps one of the weirdest groups of whales ever discovered. Janjucetus is especially so, with complex, razor-sharp teeth, gigantic eyes and short, stubby snouts. They have an evolutionary history that spans back several more million years.

The holotype specimen (NMV P256471) was discovered in 2019 by a member of the public for which the species is named: Ross Dullard. It was found in what we informally call unit 1 of the Jan Juc Marl, other taxa from which can be seen in the artwork.

We think this individual was just over 2 metres long when it perished—so, just about able to uncomfortably lie on a single bed.

As well as showing different ear bone characteristics and different (and largely unworn!) tooth anatomy, Janjucetus dullardi is unique amongst mammalodontids for its clearly immature stage of growth, permitting insights into how whales in this group changed as they grew.

Janjucetus dullardi was found in rocks 25-26 million years old and is only the fourth species of a group called mammalodontids and the third named from Australia (hypothetical skull modelled by David Hocking, Matt McCurry and painted by @dinoman-jake.bsky.social)