Scientists find fossilized skull of 16-million-year-old river dolphin species in Peru

Researchers from the University of Zurich have found a 16-million-year-old fossilized skull belonging to a giant dolphin species in the Amazon River in Peru.

According to a report published by The Guardian, it was determined that the closest relative of the extinct dolphin species lived 10,000 kilometers (6,213 miles) away in Southeast Asia.

Aldo Benites-Palomino, the lead author of the research, said the fossil belonged to the Platanistoidea family which lived between 24 million and 16 million years ago and was up to 3.5 meters long.

Noting that he discovered the dolphin species called Pebanista yacuruna in 2018, Benites-Palomino said his work was disrupted due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

He said this species of river dolphin is believed to have left the oceans to find new food sources in freshwater rivers.

The research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances.