Basilosaurus
Basilosaurus is a genus of cetacean that lived from 40 to 34 million years ago in the Late Eocene. The first Basilosaurus fossils were found in Louisiana, USA, but another species was soon discovered preserved in large numbers in the Fayum deposits of Egypt.
| Basilosaurus Temporal range: Late Eocene
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| A skull of Basilosaurus cetoides | |
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| Subfamily: | Basilosaurinae Cope, 1868
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| Genus: | Basilosaurus Harlan, 1834
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The first fossil of B. cetoides was discovered in the United States and was initially believed to be some sort of reptile, hence the suffix -"saurus", but it was later found to be a marine mammal.[1] Richard Owen wanted to rename the creature Zeuglodon ("yoked tooth"), but by taxonomic rules the creature's first name remained permanent. Fossils of B. isis have been found in Egypt and Jordan.[2]
Far from being a marine reptile, Basilosaurus is a stage in the evolution of whales. At 15–20 m (49–66 ft), Basilosaurus was one of the largest oceanic animals of its time.[3][4][5][6] Basilosaurus went extinct during the Eocene Extinction.
Basilosaurus Media
Outdated restoration of Basilosaurus by Andrew R. Janson from 1956 showing a serpent-like design
Skeleton of B. isis at Wadi El Hitan
Basilosaurus isis fossil, Nantes History Museum in France
Albert Koch's "Hydrarchos" fossil skeleton from 1845, two Basilosaurus or Pontogeneus skeletons tied together which was presented as the bones of an ancient sea monster. The skeleton was destroyed during the great Chicago fire in 1871.
Restoration of B. cetoides
Comparison of the skulls of Basilosaurus isis (fossil at Naturmuseum Senckenberg, top) and B. cetoides (fossil from the North American Museum of Ancient Life, bottom)
Fossil of Basilosaurus, an extinct whale. Took the photo at Museum Histoire Naturelle, Paris
Restoration of Basilosaurus cetoides
References
- Kellogg, R. (1936). A review of the Archaeoceti (PDF, 46.3 Mb). Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington. OCLC 681376.
- ↑ "Basilosaurus". BBC Nature. Archived from the original on 21 September 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ↑ Zalmout I.S; Mustafa H.A. & Gingerich P.D. 2000. Priabonian Basilosaurus isis (Cetacea) from the Wadi Esh-Shallala Formation: first marine mammal from the Eocene of Jordan. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20 (1): 201–204. [1][dead link]
- ↑ Gingerich, P. D. (2012). "Evolution of Whales from Land to Sea". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 156 (3): 309–323. JSTOR 23558092.
- ↑ Gingerich, P. D. (2008). "Early Evolution of Whales: A Century of Research in Egypt" (PDF). In Fleagle, J. G.; Gilbert, C. C. (eds.). Elwyn Simons: A Search for Origins. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. pp. 107–124. ISBN 978-0-387-73895-6.
- ↑ Voss, Manja; Antar, Mohammed Sameh M.; Zalmout, Iyad S.; Gingerich, Philip D. (2019). "Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene". PLOS ONE. 14 (1): e0209021. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209021. PMC 6326415. PMID 30625131.
- ↑ Kellogg 1936