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About 23 million years ago , an ancient hippopotamus - size mammal used its tenacious snout like a vacuum cleaner , suction up food from the heavily vegetate shoreline whenever it was hungry , a new study finds .
Fossils of the newfound species — found on the Aleutian Islands ' Unalaska , the location of the pop reality TV show " Deadliest Catch " — show that it had a long snoot and tusks . Its unique tooth and jaw body structure indicates it was a vegetarian , said study co - generator Louis Jacobs , a vertebrate fossilist at Southern Methodist University in Texas .
An illustration of the newfound species of hippopotamus-size mammals from Unalaska that suction-fed on shoreline vegetation.
" They were nautical mammals , but they were not entirely maritime , like whales , " Jacobs said in a television about his enquiry . It ’s probable they lived both on land and in water , like seals , and could move around on land like a " adult , lumbering , clumsy kind of elephantine laziness , " he say . [ The 12 Weirdest Animal find ]
" But when they were in the water , they swam like diametrical bears , " Jacobs said . " They were front - branch - powered swimmers . "
researcher name the new speciesOunalashkastylus tomidai . The wordOunalashkatranslates to " near the peninsula " in the Aleut speech of the indigenous Aleutian Island mass , andstylusis Latin for " pillar , " a credit to the creatures ' column - shaped dentition . The species nametomidaihonors the Japanese vertebrate paleontologist Yukimitsu Tomida .
Paleontologists Louis Jacobs (right), of Southern Methodist University, and Anthony Fiorillo (left), of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, examine the 23-million-year-old Desmostylia fossils from the Aleutian Islands.
O. tomidaibelongs to the gild Desmostylia — the only known orderliness ofmarine mammalsto go totally extinct , the researcher said . Desmostylians lived between about 33 million and 10 million days ago along the coastline of the North Pacific Ocean , and the new specimens show that the guild was more diverse than antecedently think , say co - researcher Anthony Fiorillo , chief curator at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Texas .
The wight ’s unpaired , columnar tooth and suck - mode feeding have never been see in any other mammalian , the researchers state . WhenO. tomidaiate , it would have buttress its lower jaw and teeth against the upper jaw , and then used its brawny muscles to slurp up botany — such asmarine algae , sea grass and other dear - shore plants — from the coastal area , the researchers aver .
" The young animal — when compared to one of a dissimilar mintage from Japan — made us realize that Desmos [ Desmostylians ] do not manducate like any other animal , " Jacobssaid in a statement . " They clinch their teeth , root up plant and suckle them in . "
" No other mammal eats like that , " he added . " The enamel rings on the teeth show wear and polish , but they do n’t reveal consistent pattern related to customary chewing motions . "
The dodo represent fourO. tomidai , include one babe , the researcher said .
" The baby tells us they had a breeding universe up there , " Jacobs say . " They must have stayed in sheltered areas to protect the young from breakers and stream . "
So , what would a group ofO. tomidaibe call ? Rather than a pack , herd or gaggle , for example , they decided on a " troll , " in honor of the Alaskan creative person Ray Troll , who often illustrates Desmostylia animals .
Want to see images of the new findings ? You candownload 3D renderingsof the fossils . The survey was published online Oct. 1 in thejournal Historical Biology .
