Ojaicetidae

California's first fossilized 25,000,000 year-old toothed baleen whales were discovered at Lake Casitas on January 19, 2000 by Ojai resident Aaron Plunkett. Dr. Lawrence Barnes, chief paleontologist of the marine mammal lab at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum, confirmed authenticity of the specimens brought to him by Mr. Plunkett. Dr. Barnes examined a lumbar vertebrate and two posterior symetrical right mandible jawbones, deducing that two prehistoric whales exist. (Please see Ojai Valley Whale Society mission statement). These discoveries were first presented to the Western Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists' at their 2000 Annual Meeting held in Flagstaff, Arizona-an abstract of this presentation was published in the proceedings of that meeting. The discovery was also reported in the Fall 2000 News Bulletin of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Read the Latest Los Angeles Times Article Sticking Up for Louie & Wendell

»Academic/Institution Login Here

See whale skeleton and fossils
Purple indicates color of bones originally discovered and gold indicates bones pictured.

How much there is of one, "WENDELL THE WHALE", and how much there is of the other, "LOUIE" (too), will be determined when a complete scientific excavation is performed. Aaron Plunkett named the whales after his two grandpas, Louie Elas and Wendell Plunkett, because their knowledge directly influenced his ability to make this discovery. Annie the whale, discovered three years later, is named after Mr. Plunketts grandmother, Annie Elas.

Whales and the Natives - cultural wealth of the Ojai Valley (A feature on the Chumash Indians and the significance of whales in their culture). Written by lineal descendant of Ojai's Native Chief, the Honorable Vincent Tumamait.

Rainbow Bridge (a feature on the first Chumash people)

"Whale Song of the Chumash" - Music

Whales are believed to be about 50,000,000 years old. The toothed baleen whale was thought to be extinct in the Oligocene Epoch (38,000,000 to 23,000,000 years ago) and believed to be living in the Miocene Epoch, the time period that came after the Oligocene period (23,000,000 to 5 million years ago). 25,000,000 years ago, the whales discovered by Mr. Plunkett at Lake Casitas, swam through the "tail" end of the Oligocene Period (25 to 23,000,000 years ago) and continued swimming into the Miocene Period (23 to 5,000,000 years ago). These whales lived in overlapping epochs of time and underwent specific evolutionary changes, such as the process of losing their teeth and acquiring baleens. This reveals important and crucial information about tracing the evolutionary path of mammals and whales on earth, and almost categorically suggests that these were the last toothed baleen whales that ever lived.

Geological timelines:
1). UCMP Berkeley - timeform old
2). UCMP Berkeley - timeform

Scientists will need to do extensive research on the fossilized bone specimens given the unique significances of this discovery. These particular whales represent a rare evolutionary link between whales, as we know them, with their brushy, plankton-catching plates known as baleens, which suck in small fish, and their ancient toothy ancestors. The paleontological significances of this are twofold: (1) These are the first toothed baleen whales ever discovered in California; and (2) One of the teeth found from these whales differs from teeth of other prehistoric baleen whales of the same era. This evidence strongly suggests that these whales are also a new species, family or genus on the face of the earth.

The Ojai Valley Whale Society has made this presentation possible.