The 520-million-year-old gentle giant: Fossil reveals bizarre new species of whale-like creature that filtered plankton

• Fossils found in Greenland reveal marine animals used facial appendages to filter food from the ocean
• Forefathers of today's whales swam using flaps on the sides of their body
• Large appendages in front of their mouths could also capture larger prey
• The fossils revealed they then evolved into suspension feeders and their grasping appendages morphed into a filter

Evidence of gentle giants that swam in the oceans more than 500 million years ago has been discovered.
Fossils found in northern Greenland show that ancient, giant marine creatures used bizarre, whale-like facial appendages to filter food from the ocean.
The study described how the strange species, named Tamisiocaris, used huge, read morespecialised facial parts to filter plankton - similar to the way some modern whales feed today.