Basilosaurus
Basilosaurus isis
Basilosaurus is an important fossil for whale evolution and the adaptation of mammals to life at sea.
Image: Tim from Washington, D.C., United States of America · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Basilosaurus isis
- Period
- Late Eocene (Priabonian)
- Lived
- 41–34 Ma (41 million years ago)
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Habitat
- Open sea
- Length (estimate)
- 16 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 5,000 kg
Description
Basilosaurus was an elongated early whale with a slender body, small hindlimbs and a tail fluke. Its hindlimbs were too small for movement on land but may have played a role in mating. Its long jaws and teeth indicate an active predator of fish and other marine animals. Fossils at Wadi al-Hitan preserve other animals too and show the transition of early whales to fully marine ways of life.
Habitat
Warm, shallow seas around North Africa.
Fossil sites
Wadi al-Hitan, Fayum
Birket Qarun Formation
Cultural profile: Egypt →
Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Basilosaurus