# Prehistoric whale skeleton found in Italy...



## j d worthington (Apr 4, 2007)

Prehistoric whale found in inland Italy - Yahoo! News

Title: "Prehistoric whale found in inland Italy", from AP, by Alessandra Rizzo, datelined Tue., Apr. 3, 2007.



> ROME - Italian researchers have excavated the skeleton of a 4 million-year-old whale in the Tuscan countryside, a discovery that could help reconstruct the prehistoric environment of the sea that once covered the region, officials said Tuesday.
> 
> The 33-foot skeleton, dating to the Pliocene epoch, was found in almost perfect order, with only the jaw bones out of place, said paleontologists with the Museum of Natural History in Florence.
> 
> ...


 
There's also a slide show with the story, for those interested....


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## Talysia (Apr 4, 2007)

I love it when discoveries like this are made.  It just goes to prove that history is all around us.


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## The Ace (Apr 4, 2007)

Yes, not only a virtually complete skeleton, but traces of an ecosystem.  This could provide volumes of information.


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## HardScienceFan (Apr 4, 2007)

Take my word for it,the reconstruction of a fossil ecosystem is very hard to do.With a bit of luck,you figure out the bathymetry,and some inferences on water temperature and salinity can be made.The whale,by the way,is not goning to be a big help in this,funnily enough,but microfossil assemblages
will certainly help.


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## HardScienceFan (Apr 4, 2007)

Talysia said:


> I love it when discoveries like this are made. It just goes to prove that history is all around us.


You don't know the half of it.I'm glad you said it though,most people would just say SO WHAT?'.


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