Paleontologists have identified a new whale species from a 25-million-year-old fossil found on an Australian beach.

Long before the ocean’s largest filter-feeders roamed the seas, their smaller, sharper cousins ruled the warm shallows. One such predator, newly named Janjucetus dullardi, offers a striking glimpse into the early days of whale evolution.

Unlike the modern gentle giants, Janjucetus dullardi w as a fast, sharp-toothed predator with a compact body about the size of a dolphin built for hunting, according to a new study published in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.