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Basilosaurus ("king lizard") is a genus of early whale that lived 40 to 34 million years ago in the Late Eocene.

It shares physical similarities with Orcas and Baleen Whales such as the H… Basilosaurus had primitive dentition and skull architecture; the rest of the slender, elongated skeleton was well …

Basilosaurus (meaning "king lizard") is a genus of large, predatory, prehistoric archaeocete whale from the late Eocene, approximately 41.3 to 33.9 million years ago (mya).

Basilosaurus is a prehistoric whale which lived approximately 40 million to 34 million years ago during the Late Eocene Period. In the early 19th century, when the fossil … The only known fossils dated to the Oligocene have been found in Peru and New Zealand.





Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Basilosaurus is not actually a reptile despite its name, but a whale or cetacean.

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The overall constellation of traits, including double-rooted teeth, unquestionably identified Basilosaurus as a mammal.

In 2010, paleontologists found fossils of hundreds of this species, B. isis, in Wadi al Hitan, a site 140 km southwest of Cairo. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Alternative Title: Zeuglodon.



While most Basilosaurus bones have been found in Alabama, where the creature is the state fossil, there is a slightly smaller species of Basilosaurus found in Egypt. It has a long snake-like body that undulates through the seas of the ARK like the sea serpents of folklore and its head is like a crocodile, full of sharp teeth. In the skull, the inner and middle ear are enclosed by a dense The ear of basilosaurids is more derived than those in earlier Similarly sized thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and caudal vertebrae imply that it moved in an Basilosaurus would have been the top predator of its environment.Basilosaurus fossil record seems to end at about 35–33.9 mya.Below is the phylogenetic analysis on the placement of Harlan brought his assembled specimens (including fragments of jaw and teeth, humerus, and rib fragments) to the UK where he presented them to anatomist Wadi El Hitan, Arabic وادي الحيتان , "Valley of the Whales", is an Egyptian sandstone formation where many early-whale skeletons were discovered.Hugh Beadnell, head of the Geological Survey of Egypt 1896–1906,In 2016, a complete skeleton, the first-ever find for Prehistoric cetacean genus from the Late Eocene epoch The first Basilosaurus fossil to come to the attention of scientists was a single vertebra, or back-bone, found in Louisiana in 1832 and sent to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. Natural historian Richard Harlan described the fossil in a brief report, published in 1834, in which he named the animal Basilosaurus, or "king lizard." History at your fingertips