Fig. 2 | Pachyostosis in the P.colossus MUSM 3248 holotype. a–c, Skeleton (a, preserved bones in dark grey), life reconstruction (b; artist, A. Gennari) and 3D models of a rib (c) and vertebra (L-k) (d) of P.colossus. e–j, Skeletons (e,h), posterior rib (f,i) and last lumbar vertebra (g,j) of the Wexford blue whale (B. musculus; e–g) and another basilosaurid, C. peruvianus (h–j). Scale bars, 50 cm (isolated bones in c, d, f, g, i and j) and 2 m (skeletons and reconstruction in a, b, e and h). The dagger symbols (†) indicate extinct species.

Published as part of Bianucci, Giovanni, Lambert, Olivier, Urbina, Mario, Merella, Marco, Collareta, Alberto, Bennion, Rebecca, Salas-Gismondi, Rodolfo, Benites-Palomino, Aldo, Post, Klaas, Muizon, Christian de, Bosio, Giulia, Celma, Claudio Di, Malinverno, Elisa, Pierantoni, Pietro Paolo, Villa1, Igor Maria & Amson1, Eli, 2023, A heavyweight early whale pushes the boundaries of vertebrate morphology, pp. 824-829 in Nature 620 on page 4, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06381-1, http://zenodo.org/record/8224796