Basilosaurus

BASILOSAURUS

“King lizard”

Time period: Late Eocene, 45 to 36 million years ago

Place of discovery: North America, Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan.

Diet: fish

What’s in a name?

The Basilosaurus was initially identified as a marine reptile due to its odd shape; it was one of the earliest whales that descended from land mammals. This is evident due to the front flippers, which had an elbow joint that is seen in seals today.

Eel-like Movement

Albeit being a prehistoric whale, it looked very different from modern whales and dolphins. Sleek and Eel-like, the Basilosaurus used an undulating (up and down) motion to propel itself in water. The tail was like those of a modern cetacean (whales and dolphins and porpoises). Their reduced limbs were thought to be of little use for locomotion.

One of the most frightening whales to date

Take a close look to its narrow snout and teeth of different shapes. The teeth towards the back of the mouth had multiple large serration-like cusps. The Basilosaurus could bite with a force of 1600kg. All that biting power allowed the Basilosaurus to effectively dismantle large pray. It was capable of delivering shattering bites and to crush sculls of its pray.

Unique background

Instead of having a solid backbone like that of a modern whale, it’s backbone appeared hollow and was likely filled with fluid when it was alive. This could of helped them with their buoyancy in water. This was also a clear indicator that this prehistoric whale spent most of its time near the water surface, as the backbone would have crumbled from the intense water pressure beneath the sea. Combined with it Eel-like torso, this backbone feature revealed much about its preferred hunting stile, which was near the upper surface