A team of scientists from the University of São Paulo (USP), led by Dr. Dan Palcu, from the Oceanographic Institute, made a discovery that entered the Guinness World Records: Paratethys, the largest lake that has ever existed on Earth. This is the first time that USP has entered the list of record holders.
Paratethys, which existed approximately 11 million years ago, covered a whopping 2.8 million square kilometers, making it more than 10 times larger than all the freshwater and saltwater lakes combined in the world today.
The volume of water in Paratethys was 1.8 million cubic kilometers, equivalent to 18 times the volume of the Black Sea.
“For a long time, it was believed that a prehistoric sea existed there, known as the Sarmatian Sea. Now, we have evidence that, over the course of five million years, this sea became a lake isolated from the ocean and full of animals never seen elsewhere around the globe,” reveals Palcu.
Fauna and ecosystem
According to Dr. Palcu's research, Paratethys was home to a unique fauna, with several species never before recorded elsewhere. Among them, Cetotherium riabinini stands out, the smallest whale ever recorded.
The researcher's team also discovered that Paratethys was inhabited by porpoises, similar to those in the Amazon, which became trapped in the lake when the connection with the sea was lost.
The study also provided insights into the resilience of aquatic ecosystems to extreme weather events.
“By exploring the cataclysms that this ancient megalake suffered as a result of climate change, we obtain valuable information that can shed light on potential ecological crises. It is a way of understanding the crises triggered by changes in the climate that our planet is currently going through”, explains Palcu.
The research on Paratethys was carried out in collaboration with scientists from the University of Utrecht (Netherlands), the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Senckenberg Center for Biodiversity and Climate Research (Germany) and the University of Bucharest (Romania). The study was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).