Recently a research group from the Faculty of History,
Pelocetus newly unearthed in Myonggan County, North Hamgyong Province belongs to Pelocetus, Pelocetidae, Cetacea in terms of taxonomy, which is estimated to be about 8m long.
While deepening the study, it was proved to be a whale fossil that lived in the Middle Miocene, Neocene, the Cenozoic era(15 970 000~11 630 000 years ago) and became extinct which was identified and classified into Pelocetus.
There also have been discovered 34 families and genera(7 families and 27 genera) of spore-pollen fossils and 18 diatom fossils in the formation where the whale fossil was unearthed.
The analysis of Pelocetus, spore-pollen fossils and diatom fossils says that natural landscape consisting of wide sea and land was formed around Hosan-ri at that time, with natural climate conditions in which plants and animals could live adapting themselves to the hot and humid climate.
The fossils unearthed in Hosan-ri, Myonggan County this time made it possible to lay a material foundation for the scientific research of the origin, evolution and distribution of whales and its ecosystem in the DPRK and to clearly prove that the evolution of plants and animals, including Mammalia, continued and the favorable paleontological prerequisite to the birth of mankind was made in the Cenozoic era there.
Pelocetus has been designated as the DPRK's living monument No. 299.
