Today, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, have announced the discovery of specimens from a species of toothed baleen whales that lived during the Oligocene epoch, which spanned from 33.9 to 23 million years ago. This is the first time that a species of toothed baleen whale has been identified from this era. The fossils were found in a fossil site in the western United States and include a nearly complete skull, as well as several other bones.

This discovery is significant because it provides new insight into the evolution of baleen whales, which are some of the largest animals on the planet. The species, which has been named Coronodon havensteini, is the oldest known species of toothed baleen whale. This suggests that toothed baleen whales evolved much earlier than previously thought and that their evolution was more complex than we had previously understood. It also indicates that the evolution of baleen whales was not a linear process, but instead was characterized by multiple evolutionary pathways.

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source: Phys.org