Scientists have identified an almost-complete skeleton of a 4.8-metre (15.7-foot) long dolphin ancestor that lived in what is now South Carolina during the Oligocene epoch around 25 million years ago.
This 'dolphin' was the first known echolocating apex predator: as well as its large size, it would've had large, tusk-like teeth, and appears to have been capable of feeding and hunting at high speeds like an orca.
Importantly, the discovery could help us better understand how the two types of modern whales – toothed whales, such as dolphins, and baleen whales, like humpbacks – evolved their unique features, such as flippers and tail propulsion.
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