‘Deceptively cute’ ancient whale with razor-sharp teeth and eyes the size of tennis balls discovered in Australia

Scientist says new species described from 25-million-year-old fossil found in Victoria ‘was a gnarly whale I wouldn’t want to get in the water with’

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“Small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless” is how scientists have described a new species of ancient whale, from a 25-million-year-old fossil found on Victoria’s surf coast.

This early species, called Janjucetus dullardi, was an extremely unusual animal, said Dr Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute.