By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

Researchers have discovered the fossilised remains of an ancient whale with huge, fearsome teeth.

Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists have dubbed the 12 million-year-old creature “Leviathan”.

It is thought to have been more than 17m long, and might have engaged in fierce battles with other giant sea creatures from the time.

Leviathan was much like the modern sperm whale in terms of size and appearance.

But that is where the similarity ends. While the sperm whale is a relatively passive animal, sucking in squid from the depths of the ocean, Leviathan was an aggressive predator.

According to Dr Christian de Muizon, director of the Natural History Museum in Paris, Leviathan could have hunted out and fed on large sea creatures such as dolphins, seals and even other whales.

“It was a kind of a sea monster,” he said.

“And it’s interesting to note that at the same time in the same waters was another monster, which was a giant shark about 15m long. It’s possible that they might have fought each other”.

The researchers speculate that Leviathan was able to feed on very large prey up to 8m long. It would catch the prey in its huge jaws and tear it apart quickly and effectively with its giant teeth.

The Leviathan skull was discovered in 12 million year-old sediments in Peru

A 3m-long fossilised skull of the creature was discovered by researchers in southern Peru in 2008. Dr de Muizon’s student, Olivier Lambert was among them.

“It was the last day of our field trip when one of our colleagues came and told us that he thought he’d found something very interesting. So we joined him and he showed it to us,” he said.

“We immediately saw that it was a very large whale and when we looked closer we saw it was a giant sperm whale with huge teeth.”

The teeth were more than twice the length and diameter of those found in modern sperm whales and they were on the upper and lower jaws.

Sperm whales only have teeth on their lower jaw.

Dr Lambert and his colleagues had speculated that such a fierce creature might once have existed on the basis of discoveries of individual teeth.

Now, the discovery of the skull means that the Leviathan is not merely the stuff of myth and legend.

“Finally we found it,” said Dr Lambert. ” It was a very exciting moment”.

The researchers do not know why this ancient whale died out. They speculate that the ecology and environment changed so that the creature had to change its feeding habits.

That may have led to the emergence of today’s much gentler sperm whales, with the carnivorous niche filled by killer whales as conditions swung back again.

The authors of the report in Nature, who are all whale experts, are fans of the novel Moby Dick, which involves a ferocious white sperm whale.

So taken are they with the novel that they decided to dedicate their discovery to the author, Herman Melville, and give the creature its full scientific name of Leviathan melvillei.

MUMBAI: Indian Premier League 3
runners-up Mumbai Indians, led by batting great Sachin Tendulkar, will face
South Africa’s Highveld Lions in the opening match of the Airtel Champions
League Twenty20 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on September
10.

Champions League T20
Schedule

Mumbai Indians and IPL’s third-placed outfit Royal
Challengers Bangalore have been placed in Group B along with Highveld Lions,
South Australia Redbacks, and West Indies’ representative to be determined in
late July.

IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, led by Mahendra Singh
Dhoni, are in Group A alongside the Twenty20 champions from Australia, South
Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, the organisers announced on
Tuesday.

The final would be held at the Wanderers on September 26
while Durban and Centurion have been awarded the semifinals on September 24 and
25 respectively.

The 10 competing teams have been divided into two
groups of five for a round robin phase before the top two teams from each group
progress to the semifinals.

Matches have been evenly distributed
across the four venues with each hosting at least five fixtures, including the
final, the organisers said.

All 23 matches in the tournament would be
broadcast in prime time in India starting at 5pm or 9pm IST, as per the
schedule.

Group A -

Chennai
Super Kings, Warriors, Victorian Bushrangers, Wayamba Elevens, Central
Stags.

Group B -

Mumbai
Indians, Highveld Lions, South Australian Redbacks, Royal Challengers Bangalore,
West Indies Domestic T20 Champions (To be
confirmed)

The complete schedule
(all times IST):

Sep
10:

Mumbai Indians vs Highveld Lions, Johannesburg 9
pm.

Sep 11:

Warriors vs
Wayamba Elevens, Port Elizabeth 5 pm; Chennai Super Kings vs Central Stags,
Durban 9 pm.

Sep 12:

Highveld
Lions vs South Australian Redbacks, Centurion 5 pm; Royal Challengers Bangalore
vs WI team, Centurion 9 pm.

Sep
13:

Warriors vs Victorian Bushrangers, Port Elizabeth 9
pm.

Sep 14:

Mumbai Indians vs
South Australian Redbacks, Durban 9
pm.

Sep 15:

Victorian
Bushrangers vs Central Stags, Centurion 5 pm; Chennai Super Kings vs Wayamba
Elevens, Centurion 9 pm.

Sep
16:

Mumbai Indians vs WI team, Durban 9 pm. Sep 17: South Australian
Redbacks vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Durban 9
pm.

Sep 18:

Warriors vs
Central Stags, Port Elizabeth 5 pm; Chennai Super Kings vs Victorian
Bushrangers, Port Elizabeth 9
pm.

Sep 19:

Highveld Lions vs
WI team, Johannesburg 5 pm; Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore,
Durban 9 pm.

Sep 20:

Victorian Bushrangers vs Wayamba Elevens, Centurion 9
pm.

Sep 21:

South Australian
Redbacks vs WI team, Johannesburg 5 pm; Highveld Lions vs Royal Challengers
Bangalore, Johannesburg 9 pm.

Sep
22:

Wayamba Elevens vs Central Stags, Port Elizabeth 5 pm; Chennai Super
Kings vs Warriors, Port Elizabeth 9
pm.

Sep 23:

Rest day

Sep 24:

Semifinal 1, 1st
Group A vs 2nd Group B, Durban 9
pm.

Sep 25:

Semifinal 2, 1st
Group B vs 2nd Group A, Centurion 9
pm.

Sep 26:

Final,
Johannesburg 9 pm.

NEW DELHI: Ajantha Mendis wrecked
havoc when India toured Sri Lanka in 2008 but senior batsman Rahul Dravid hoped
this time around he and his colleagues are better equipped to tackle the
‘mystery’ spinner in the forthcoming Test series beginning in Galle next
month.

Mendis demolished the famed Indian batting line up in his
debut series two years back by capturing 26 wickets to help Sri Lanka beat India
2-1 in the three-Test encounter.

But Dravid said since then the
Indians have mastered the mystery spinner and hoped for a better showing from
his teammates in the forthcoming series.

“He (Mendis) is still a
good bowler. He was completely new to us when we toured Sri Lanka last time (in
2008). He got the measure our team last time, there is no doubt about it. He
played a major role in the series. But hopefully, we have learnt our lesson,”
the former captain said at the launch of the 2010 Limca Book of
Records.

“I think we played him pretty well when he came to India. We
learnt how to tackle him. Having said that international bowlers keep on
improving, international bowlers come up with new tricks everytime. But
hopefully we will have the answers whatever Mendis throws at us this time,”
Dravid said.

Dravid also predicted a challenging three-match series
against the islanders which begins with the first Test in Galle on July
18.

“Sri Lanka is a very formidable team and they play tough cricket
at home. In the last two times we travelled there, we won a Test match but did
not win the series. It is a positive sign to win a Test there but it is now
important for us to keep that performance going right throughout the upcoming
series,” he said.

“It is going to be a challenge but we have got a
good team. We have got bowlers who are capable of taking 20 wickets, which is
important to win a Test. If we can put runs on the board, hopefully we will have
a good series,” the right-hand batsman added.

Asked about his own
preparation for the series, Dravid said, “I would not need to make any
particular adjustments in my batting for the series. I have been training and
preparing for the last six weeks keeping in mind the series.

“I got
a good gap after IPL and it has given me time to be with my family and do a bit
of physical training. It was a good break for me but now it’s time to get back
to cricket.”

He, however, agreed that it would be a challenge for
him to return to Test cricket after such a long gap.

“Sometimes, it
is little bit of challenge to return to Test cricket after a long break but
there is preparation time in Sri Lanka. I am looking forward to some match
practice before the series,” Dravid said.

LONDON: Australia quick Doug Bollinger
admits being on the wrong end of a 5-0 one-day international series clean sweep
by England would be “devastating”.

The left-arm paceman nearly
helped bowl Australia to a spectacular victory in the third one-day
international at Old Trafford on Sunday.

England, who defend the
Ashes in Australia later this year, were cruising to victory but lost six
wickets for 18 runs before Tim Bresnan saw the side to a one-wicket win with
five balls to spare.

That gave England an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the
five-match series and meant they’d got the better of arch-rivals Australia in
all of their most recent meetings in all three international formats, having
beaten their oldest cricket foes in last month’s World Twenty20 final after
regaining the Ashes last year.

Now England, who haven’t enjoyed such
ascendancy over Australia since their ‘grand-slam’ Ashes winning tour in
1986/87, will be looking to move nearer a whitewash of the world champions when
the fourth one-day international takes place at The Oval here on Wednesday.

“We’d love to stop them, 5-0 would be devastating,” Bollinger told
reporters at Australia’s hotel here on Monday.

“But we’ve just got
to go out there and do everything properly and hopefully win the next two; 3-2
would still be disappointing but it would be two good wins,” the 28-year-old New
South Wales paceman added.

“It isn’t the start we wanted being 3-0
down but there isn’t much we can do. Everyone went out and played their guts off
and sometimes it just doesn’t work out. We can’t whinge about it, we just have
to try and finish well in these two one-dayers before the T20s and Tests against
Pakistan.”

One consolation for Australia in their defeat at Old
Trafford was the form of fast bowler Shaun Tait, who took three wickets for 28
runs in his first one-day international since February 2009.

“Shaun
came in and bowled really fast,” said Bollinger.

“He bowled really
well. He got three for 28 and bowled well for the team, and that gave us a
massive boost.

“For me he can have a massive effect on the series.
If he keeps bowling well then he’ll take a lot of wickets – and I hope he does.

“He’s a great guy to have in the dressing room too, so to have him
available is like a breath of fresh air.”

NEW DELHI: No final decision will be
taken on Lalit Modi’s case in next week’s BCCI Special General Body Meeting,
which will only decide whether to refer the suspended IPL commissioner’s fate to
the Disciplinary Committee, Board secretary N Srinivasan
said.

Srinivasan said the SGM on Saturday would decide whether to
approve his observation that Modi’s reply to the three show cause notices served
on him mainly on charges of financial irregularities was
“unacceptable”.

And if his observation is ratified, Srinivasan said,
the SGM would reconstitute the Disciplinary Committee from which BCCI president
Shashank Manohar has recused himself as requested by Modi.

“…there
are two items (on agenda for the meeting), and one is to ratify the action of
secretary in referring this to the Disciplinary Committee. In which case we
would re-constitute the disciplinary committee from which Mr Manohar recused
himself,” Srinivasan said.

“The general body is going to decide my
action in referring it to the Disciplinary Committee. If they approve then the
Disciplinary Committee would be re-constituted because Mr Manohar has recused
himself so I don’t understand what is being said,” Srinivasan told ‘NDTV
Profit’.

Interim IPL chief Chirayu Amin and BCCI vice-president Arun
Jaitley are the two other members of the Disciplinary
Committee.

Explaining the process, the BCCI secretary said, “Our
procedure is that if the members in the general meeting approve or ratify the
decision I took, then the Disciplinary Committee would be reconstituted and then
they would hold a hearing and follow due process and then their report would
again come to the general body. This is the process we follow,” he said.

Srinivasan also dismissed allegations of being biased against Modi,
who had accused the BCCI secretary — who also owns the Chennai Super Kings team
– of having conflict of interest and acting out of malice against the suspended
IPL chief.

“I have no prejudices at all and I believe that I acted
very fairly,” said Srinivasan.

“Even till today I have never
discussed anything and even today I refuse to discuss any further the fact of
the return of the money. Other then that I’ve not said anything else,”
Srinivasan said.

Modi has demanded that Srinivasan be kept out of
the disciplinary proceedings against him, accusing the BCCI secretary of being
biased against him.

Srinivasan, who is not part of the Disciplinary
Committee, said he was bound by the Board’s constitution to discharge his duties
as the BCCI secretary.

“Mr Manohar has recused himself and as per
our board constitution when a show cause notice is issued, the decision on the
reply is made by the secretary and there is nobody else to do it,” he said.

“The general body will decide whether my decision is to be approved
or not. So therefore how can you talk of being biased or personal feelings here
because the members are going to decide?” he asked.

Srinivasan
claimed Modi had kept the Board in dark about financial transactions including
the Rs 425 crore facilitation fee that World Sports Group got in the TV rights
deal with MSM.