Description
- Basilosaur (Primitive Whale)
- Eocene Age
- Western Sahara Desert
- Morocco, North Africa
- Specimen measures 6.5″ long in a straight line measurement
- More Whale Fossils
Basilosaurus Whale (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). First described in 1834, it was the first archaeocete and prehistoric whale known to science.
Fossils attributed to the type species B. cetoides were discovered in the United States. They were originally thought to be of a giant reptile, hence the suffix “-saurus”, Ancient Greek for “lizard”. The animal was later found to be an early marine mammal,
Artists Drawing of a pod of Basilosaurus By Pavel.Riha
