研究人员在印度洋迪亚曼蒂纳断裂带发现了一个规模巨大的鲸鱼墓地，沿海床延伸约1200公里，深度介于4616至7001米之间1。该地区包含485个鲸鱼坠落遗址和化石集合体，其中包括5个现代活跃鲸鱼群落和476具化石鲸类遗骸1。同位素测年数据显示，这些化石的时间跨度为0.12至526万年前，最古老的化石距今至少530万年1。
探险队搭乘搭载全深度载人潜器"奋斗者"号的研究船"探索一号"，于2023年2月8日至3月17日期间进行了32次深潜作业1。研究人员在该地区识别出5种喙鲸和1种须鲸，既包括现存物种如Andrews喙鲸（Mesoplodon bowdoini）和带齿喙鲸（Mesoplodon layardii），也发现了已灭绝物种Pterocetus diamantinae sp. nov.和Izikoziphius rossi1。鲸鱼遗骸密度在该区域达到每平方公里759.5具，其中鲸鱼群落内生物密度最高达每平方米2840个个体1。
环绕这些鲸类遗骸的生态系统包含35个大型底栖生物分类群，其中35个为新种，核心优势物种为化学合成双壳贝类、蛀骨虫和脆星1。这一发现表明鲸鱼坠落生态系统的分布范围远超之前认知，为追踪鲸类进化提供了重要的深海化石档案1。
Researchers have identified a vast whale necropolis spanning approximately 1,200 kilometers along the seafloor of the Diamantina Fracture Zone in the Indian Ocean, at depths ranging from 4,616 to 7,001 meters 1. The expedition, conducted from February 8 to March 17, 2023, using the crewed submersible Fendouzhe aboard the R/V Tansuoyihao, documented 485 whale-fall sites and fossil assemblages containing 476 fossilized cetacean remains alongside 5 active modern whale communities 1.
Isotopic dating analysis reveals that the oldest fossils are at least 5.3 million years old, with the site's fossil record spanning a timeframe of 0.12 to 5.26 million years 1. The whale density in this region reaches approximately 759.5 specimens per square kilometer, with localized concentrations of up to 2,840 individual organisms per square meter within whale communities 1. Researchers identified five species of beaked whales and one baleen whale species, including extant species such as Andrews' beaked whale (Mesoplodon bowdoini) and strap-toothed whale (Mesoplodon layardii), as well as extinct species including two newly described species, Pterocetus diamantinae and Izikoziphius rossi 1.
The discovery documented 35 major epibenthic taxa, including 35 new species, with chemosynthetic bivalves, bone-eating worms, and brittle stars comprising the dominant fauna 1. This deep-sea necropolis provides an unprecedented fossil archive for tracking cetacean evolution and reveals that whale-fall ecosystems are distributed far more extensively than previously understood 1.
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