[blam]

A tsunami put the whales on land? How old are the bones?

[Fred Nerks]

http://www.llu.edu/llu/grad/natsci/brand/whale.html

Taphonomy of fossil whales in the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Fm., Peru

Baleen from Fernanda. Left - surface view of the baleen (~ 8 cm from top to bottom of photo). Upper right - cross section of baleen. The dark colored v-shaped structures are sheets of baleen. Lower right - microscopic enlargement of surface of a sheet of baleen. Notice the fine ridges preserved in the baleen. We found fossilized baleen in several other whales also, but the baleen was best preserved in this whale. This type of preservation requires rapid burial, before the baleen tissue decayed. Fernanda was also buried before the spinal cord decayed, as black mineral replacement of the spinal cord was present in its normal position within the vertebral column (but nowhere else).

How old are the bones?

Miocene/Pliocene/Eenie/Meenie/Minie/Mo!

[Fred Nerks]

The land beneath an inland sea rose suddenly or there was a huge tidal wave...but whatever it was, it was a catastrophe!

DESERT FOSSILS PERU. LINK

The finds include the fossilised skeletons of whales, seals, dolphins, turtles, sharks, penguins and even sloths, which swam around in the coastal water millions of years ago.

Teeth, Fossil Shark

The site is also rich in archaeological remains. The team regularly finds potsherds, shells… left behind by ancient Inca peoples...(millions of years ago?)