Archaeologists found the skeleton of an ancient whale on the site of the future railway approach to the Crimean bridge
The discovery will allow paleontologists to study the structure of ancient animals.
SIMFEROPOL, August 17. /TASS/. The archaeologists found at the site of the future railway approach to the Crimean bridge the fossilized skeletal remains of a whale that lay in geological strata about 10 million years. This was reported by the information center “Crimean bridge”.
Fragments of the skeleton — spine and ribs — has been found in the course of archaeological investigations preceding the construction of the railway — approach to the Crimean bridge.”Krimsky bridge”
It is noted that the fossils “lies at a shallow depth — about one meter from the surface.” Experts-paleontologists believe that they belong to the ancient Keith Citterio ancestor of modern baleen whales, reaching a length of over 30 meters. According to scientists, in the early stages of development, these mammals were less. The ancient whale, whose skeleton is now studied, increased by almost five meters. He inhabited the Sarmatian sea, including the territory of modern Kerch Peninsula, said the information centre.
Over time, where there was the sea, formed by land. Was raising of geological layers, and the skeleton of a whale was on the hill, although earlier he was lying on the bottom.Sergey Astonomy fellow of the Institute of archaeology RAS
Scientists say that the discovery was made thanks to the project approach to the Crimean bridge, they called it “a great success for paleontologists”.
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“Its main value is that it is an articulated skeleton of an ancient whale. The cranial bones are not preserved, but fully represented the spine, from thoracic to tail. All fragments belong to the same instance. Such finds are rare. Clearly the structure of the bone. This will allow us to explore the remains of an animal of bygone eras very well and get useful information about the structure of the ancient body,” — said a leading Methodist of the Zoological Museum of Taurida Academy of the Crimean Federal University. V. I. Vernadsky Dmitry Startsev.
Fragments of the skeleton of an ancient whale will be studied in detail and prepared for exhibiting in the Museum on the Crimean Peninsula.