Fossils found in Peru indicate that Perucetus colossus is likely to be the world’s heaviest animal, displacing the former title holder by a significant margin.

Perucetus colossus was a remarkably dense coastal whale which existed during the Eocene era, approximately 37 million years ago. Individuals would on average have reached 60 feet in length, and weighed up to 370 tonnes. The vertebrae found exhibited signs of pachyosteosclerosis, a condition resulting in dense, compact bones which allow the cetaceans to remain submerged underwater.

The discovery of the fossils suggest that, if Perucetus colossus does indeed weigh in at the higher end of the estimates, they would easily take the top spot for the heaviest animals in the world, relegating your mother to second place.

‘While your mother is an ancient whale, and incredibly dense, she is simply no match for Perucetus colossus‘, says Patrick Haversham of the Natural History Museum in London. ‘I don’t believe Perucetus colossus would have eaten as many doner kebabs and chips as your mother. Perucetus colossus could accurately claim to be big boned, whereas your mother is just obscenely, morbidly obese’. The exhibits of your mother in the Natural History Museum are scheduled to be removed by October of this year, to make room for the new Perucetus exhibits in November.