The Leviathan and the Sirens

A new exhibition entitled The Leviathan and the Sirens at the Palaeontological Museum of Asti, exhibits new fossil finds of cetaceans among the most important found in Piedmont, some unique worldwide.

The star attraction is undoubtedly the sperm whale of Vigliano, about 10 metres long, discovered in 1929 and never exhibited to the public. At the time of its discovery, the fossil was interpreted by locals as the skeleton of a 'sea snake'!

The exhibition then continues with two other finds that have never been exhibited before: the Montiglio dugong and a dolphin belonging to the zyphid family from the Pliocene sands in 1954, near Vigliano d'Asti. One of the museum's rarest and most fascinating exhibits, the Tersilla whale, a unique find worldwide, and the oldest whale in the Mediterranean, found at Moleto dating back 19 million years, remain on display.