Scientists have identified a new species of ancient whale with cartoonish bulging eyes that they say would have made it look like a Pokémon.
A precursor to today’s modern whale species, the 25 million-year-old creature was “deceptively cute,” according to Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at Australia’s Museums Victoria Research Institute, as reported by the Toronto Sun.
“It might have looked for all the world like some weird kind of mash-up between a whale, a seal and a Pokémon,” Fitzgerald said, before clarifying, “but they were very much their own thing.”
While the species, officially named Janjucetus dullardi, might have looked like something you could pop out of a Pokéball, in reality they would have been something you’d probably want to stay clear of.
Described as a feral predator with a super effective bite, the specimen is estimated to have once been around the size of a single bed, despite only being a juvenile. Still, much of the species’ full appearance remains a mystery, as only a partial skull and teeth have so far been found.
“They may have had tiny little nubbins of legs just projecting as stumps from the wall of the body,” Fitzgerald continued. Adorable!
Janjucetus dullardi has been placed as a member of the rare mammalodontids group of ancient whales that existed 34-23 million years ago, which later evolved into the humpbacks and minke whales of today. Or in Pokémon terms, it would have definitely been Water-type.
The species has been named after amateur fossil hunter and high school principal Ross Dullard, who contacted Museums Victoria after unearthing the skull on a local beach. Confirming it did indeed belong to a previously-unknown species has since taken six years of research — a lot longer than simply registering it to a Pokédex.
This week, however, has finally brought that confirmation — something Dullard says has given him “the greatest 24 hours of my life” and “high fives coming left, right and center” when he was greeted on his high school campus the following day.
“That’s taken my concentration for six years,” Dullard said. “I’ve had sleepless nights. I’ve dreamt about this whale.”
Now, how about returning it to life, Helix Fossil style?
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social