The whale, whose skull was found in the Peruvian desert of Ica, was between 13 and 18 metres long and its teeth some 36 centimetres long, according to a publication by journal of science Nature. Researchers of Natural History Museum in Paris, leading the investigation, said the whale was very similar to a current sperm whale; however its characteristics justified the creation of new species.

Researchers named it Leviathan melvillei, after the Bible monster and the author of "Moby Dick" Herman Melville. Curator of the Rotterdam Museum Klaas Post found the whale by chance.