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The oldest known whale to ply the Antarctic has been found, scientists say. A 60-centimeter-long jawbone was recently discovered amid a rich deposit of fossils on the Antarctic Peninsula.
The early whale swam polar waters during the Eocene period, some 49 million years ago. Its age suggests fully aquatic whales evolved from their mammalian ancestors more rapidly than previously thought, said researcher Thomas Mörs, paleozoologist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History.