Editing Basilosaurus (section)

== Taxonomic history ==
=== Etymology ===
[[File:Basilosaurus by Knight.jpg|thumb|Outdated restoration of ''Basilosaurus'' by [[Charles R. Knight]] from 1907 showing a serpent-like body-plan]]
The two species of ''Basilosaurus'' are ''B. cetoides'', whose remains were discovered in the United States, and ''B. isis'', which was discovered in Egypt. ''B. cetoides'' is the [[type species]] for the genus.<ref name=zalmout2000>{{Cite journal| last1 = Zalmout | first1 = I. S.| last2 = Mustafa | first2 = H. A.| last3 = Gingerich | first3 = P. D.| title = Priabonian ''Basilosaurus isis'' (Cetacea) from the Wadi Esh-Shallala Formation: first marine mammal from the Eocene of Jordan| year = 2000 | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 201–204| url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232663337| oclc = 4908948040 | doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0201:pbicft]2.0.co;2| s2cid = 130179065}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite web | title = Basilosaurus | publisher = BBC Nature | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/seamonsters/factfiles/basilosaurus.shtml | access-date = 24 August 2013 | archive-date = 21 September 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100921083651/http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/seamonsters/factfiles/basilosaurus.shtml | url-status = live }}</ref> The [[holotype]] of ''B. cetoides'' was found in [[Ouachita Parish]], [[Louisiana]].{{sfn|Harlan|1834}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Bry Plantation (Eocene of the United States) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicCollectionSearch?collection_no=32907 |website=PBDB}}</ref> Vertebrae were sent to the [[American Philosophical Society]] by a Judge Henry Bry of [[Ouachita Parish, Louisiana]] and Judge John Creagh of [[Clarke County, Alabama|Clarke County]], [[Alabama]]. Both fossils ended up in the hands of the anatomist [[Richard Harlan]], who requested more examples from Creagh.<ref name=Switek>{{cite web| last = Switek | first = Brian| title = The Legacy of the ''Basilosaurus'' | publisher = ScienceBlogs| url = http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2008/09/21/the-legacy-of-the-basilosaurus/| date = 21 September 2008 | access-date = 14 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-did-whales-evolve-73276956/?all |title=How Did Whales Evolve? |author=Brian Switek |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |date=December 2010 }}</ref> The first bones were unearthed when rain caused a hillside full of sea shells to slide. The bones were lying in a curved line "measuring upwards of four hundred feet [122 meters] in length, with intervals which were vacant." Many of these bones were used as [[andiron]]s and destroyed; Bry saved the bones he could find, but was convinced more bones were still to be found on the location. Bry speculated that the bones must have belonged to a "sea monster" and supplied "a piece having the appearance of a tooth" to help determine which kind.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harlan|1834|p=400}}</ref>

Harlan identified the tooth as a [[Pinna (genus)|wedge-shaped shell]] and instead focused on "a vertebra of enormous dimensions" which he assumed belonged to the order "[[Marine reptile|Enalio-Sauri]] of [[William Conybeare (geologist)|Conybeare]]", "found only in the sub-cretaceous series."<ref>{{Harvnb|Harlan|1834|p=401}}</ref> He noted that some parts of the vertebra were similar to those of ''[[Plesiosaurus]]'' and skull was similar to ''[[Mosasaurus]]'', but that they were completely different in proportions. Comparing his vertebra to those of large dinosaurs such as ''[[Megalosaurus]]'' and ''[[Iguanodon]]'', Harlan concluded that his specimen was considerably larger—he estimated the animal to have been no less than {{Convert|80|–|100|ft|m|abbr=on}} long—and therefore suggested the name ''Basilosaurus'', meaning "king lizard".<ref>{{Harvnb|Harlan|1834|pp=402–403}}</ref>

Harlan brought his assembled specimens (including fragments of jaw and teeth, humerus, and rib fragments) to the UK where he presented them to anatomist [[Richard Owen]]. Owen concluded that the molar teeth were two-rooted, a dental morphology unknown in fishes and reptiles, and more complex and varied than in any known reptile, and therefore that the specimen must be a mammal. Owen correctly associated the teeth with cetaceans, but he thought it was an herbivorous animal, similar to [[sirenia]]ns.<ref>{{Harvnb|Owen|1839|pp=72–73}}</ref> Consequently, Owen proposed renaming the find ''Zeuglodon cetoides'' ("whale-like [[yoke]] teeth" in reference to the double-rooted teeth) and Harlan agreed.<ref name="Owen-1939-p75">{{Harvnb|Owen|1839|p=75}}</ref>

===Wadi El Hitan===
{{Main|Wadi El Hitan}}
[[File:Wadi Al-Hitan.jpg|thumb|Skeleton of ''B. isis'' at [[Wadi El Hitan]]]]
[[File:Basilosaurus isis fossil, Nantes History Museum 03.jpg|thumb|left|''Basilosaurus isis'' fossil, Nantes History Museum in France]]
Wādī al-Ḥītān ({{Langx|ar|وادي الحيتان|translit=|lit=Valley of the Whales}}) is an Egyptian sandstone formation where many early-whale skeletons were discovered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/id/1186|title=Wadi Al-Hitan| publisher=World Heritage Site|access-date=17 August 2017}}</ref> German botanist [[Georg August Schweinfurth]] discovered the first archaeocete whale in Egypt (''Zeuglodon osiris'', now ''[[Saghacetus]] osiris'') in 1879. He visited the [[Qasr el Sagha Formation]] in 1884 and 1886 and missed the now famous Wadi El Hitan by a few kilometers. German paleontologist [[Wilhelm Dames|Wilhelm Barnim Dames]] described the material, including the type specimen of ''Z. osiris'', a well-preserved dentary.<ref name=gingerich2007>{{cite book |last=Gingerich |first=P. D. |year=2008 |chapter-url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~gingeric/PDFfiles/PDG471_WhalesinEgypt.pdf |title=Elwyn Simons: A Search for Origins |chapter=Early Evolution of Whales: A Century of Research in Egypt |series=Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects |pages=107–124 |editor1-last=Fleagle |editor1-first=J. G. |editor2-last=Gilbert |editor2-first=C. C. |location=Berlin |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-387-73895-6 |access-date=31 August 2013 |archive-date=5 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105101205/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~gingeric/PDFfiles/PDG471_WhalesinEgypt.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Hugh Beadnell, head of the Geological Survey of Egypt 1896–1906,<ref name=gingerich2007/> named and described ''Zeuglodon isis'' in {{Harvnb|Andrews|1904}} based on a partial mandible and several vertebrae from Wadi El Hitan in Egypt.<ref>{{Harvnb|Andrews|1904|pp=214–215}}</ref> {{Harvnb|Andrews|1906}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Andrews|1906|pp=255}}</ref> described a skull and some vertebrae of a smaller archaeocete and named it ''Prozeuglodon atrox'', now known today as ''[[Dorudon]] atrox''. {{Harvnb|Kellogg|1936}} discovered deciduous teeth in this skull and it was then believed to be a juvenile [''Pro'']''zeuglodon isis'' for decades before more complete fossils of mature ''Dorudon'' were discovered.{{sfn|Kellogg|1936|p=81}}<ref name=gingerich2007/><ref>{{Cite journal| last = Uhen | first = Mark D.| title = Form, Function, and Anatomy of ''Dorudon Atrox'' (Mammalia, Cetacea): An Archaeocete from the Middle to Late Eocene of Egypt| year = 2004 | journal = Papers on Paleontology | volume = 34 |page=11| hdl = 2027.42/41255}}</ref>

In the 1980s, [[Elwyn L. Simons]] and [[Philip D. Gingerich]] started to excavate at Qasr el-Sagha and Wadi El Hitan with the hope of finding material that could match archaeocete fossils from Pakistan. Since then, over 500 archaeocete skeletons have been found at these two locations, of which most are ''B. isis'' or ''D. atrox'', several of the latter carrying bite marks assumed to be from the former.<ref name=gingerich2007/> A 1990 paper described additional fossils including foot bones and speculated that the reduced hind limbs were used as copulatory guides.<ref name="pmid-17836967"/> One thing that was noted, was that whale fossils were so common, that when a mason company looked at their newest table counter, they realized that they had created a cross section of a 40 million year old basilosaurid fossil. This find was another thing that caught the eye of Gingerich.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fossil Found in Kitchen Counter |url=https://cms.video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/wild-chronicles/00000144-0a1e-d3cb-a96c-7b1fd7a10000?gc=%2Fvideo%2Fenvironment%2Fenvironmental-threats&gs=picks |website=National Geographic}}</ref>

In 2015, a complete skeleton, the first-ever such find for ''Basilosaurus'', was uncovered in Wadi El Hitan, preserved with the remains of its prey, including a ''Dorudon'' and several species of fish. The whale's skeleton also shows signs of scavenging by large sharks such as the [[Otodontidae|otodontid]] ''[[Otodus sokolovi]]'', though the study considered it possible that this shark was also part of the diet of ''Basilosaurus''.<ref name="Basilo2019"/>

===Wastebasket taxa===
Many dubious species have been assigned to ''Basilosaurus'' in the past which have since been invalidated or were too incomplete to determine anything.

====''Nomina dubia''====
A ''[[nomen dubium]]'' is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. There are a few documented cases of this being applied to ''Basilosaurus'' in the past.
[[Image:Hydrarchos.jpg|thumb|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.]]
* ''Zeuglodon wanklyni'', was a supposed species of ''Basilosaurus'', that described in 1876 based on a skull found in the Wanklyn's Barton Cliff in the United Kingdom. This single specimen, however, quickly disappeared and has since been declared a ''[[nomen nudum]]'' or referred to as ''[[Zygorhiza]] wanklyni''.<ref>{{Paleodb|63087|Basilosauridae}}: Taxonomic history. Retrieved August 2013.</ref>
* ''Zeuglodon vredense'' or ''vredensis'' was named in the 19th century based on a single, isolated tooth without any kind of accompanying description, and {{Harvnb|Kellogg|1936}} therefore declared it a ''nomen nudum''.{{sfn |Kellogg|1936|p=264}}<ref>{{Paleodb|63141|Zeuglodon vredense (nomen nudum)}}. Retrieved August 2013.</ref>
* ''Zeuglodon puschi[i]'' was a species that was said to come from Poland, it was named by {{Harvnb|Brandt|1873}}. {{Harvnb|Kellogg|1936}} noted that the species is based on an incomplete vertebra of indeterminable position and, therefore, that the species is invalid.{{sfn|Kellogg|1936|p=263}}<ref>{{Paleodb|63140|Zeuglodon puschii (nomen dubium)}}. Retrieved August 2013.</ref>
* ''Zeuglodon brachyspondylus'' was described by [[Johannes Peter Müller]] based on some vertebrae from "''Zeuglodon hydrarchus''",<ref>{{Cite book| last = Müller | first = Johannes Peter | author-link = Johannes Peter Müller| title = Über die fossilen Reste der Zeuglodonten von Nordamerika mit Rücksicht auf die europäischen Reste aus dieser Familie| year = 1849 | pages = 1–38 | publisher = Reiner | location = Berlin | oclc = 422134028}}
*{{cite web |date= |title= Über die fossilen Reste der Zeuglodonten von Nordamerica|website=pbdb.org |url=http://pbdb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=displayReference&reference_no=11969 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304033317/http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?reference_no=11969&action=referenceInfo | archive-date = 4 March 2016}}</ref> better known as Dr. Albert Koch's "Hydrarchos". {{Harvnb|Kellogg|1936}}, synonymized it with ''[[Pontogeneus]] priscus'', which a 2005 study declared a ''[[nomen dubium]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Uhen | first = M. D. | title = A new genus and species of archaeocete whale from Mississippi | year = 2005 | journal = Mississippi Geology | volume = 43 | issue = 3 | pages = 157–172}}</ref>

====Reassigned species====
[[File:Basilosaurus cetoides recon.png|thumb|Restoration of ''B. cetoides'']]
* ''Basilosaurus drazindai'' was named by a 1997 study based on a single lumbar vertebra. Originally, the species was thought to have lived in [[Pakistan]] and the [[UK]].<ref name="New Archaeoceti 2027"/> It was later declared a ''nomen dubium'' by Uhen (2013), but Gingerich and Zouhri (2015) reassigned it to the genus ''[[Eocetus]]''. This species was at one point in time concluded to be the earliest record of the genus ''Basilosaurus'', before its reclassification.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Middle to Late Eocene Basilosaurines and Dorudontines |doi=10.1007/978-1-4899-0159-0_2 |title=The Emergence of Whales |pages=29–61 |year=1998 |last1=Uhen |first1=Mark D. |isbn=978-1-4899-0161-3 }}</ref><ref>{{Paleodb|53163|Basilosaurus drazindai}}. Retrieved August 2013.</ref><ref name=GZ2015>{{cite journal | last1 = Gingerich | first1 = Philip D. | last2 = Zouhri | first2 = Samir | year = 2015 | title = New fauna of archaeocete whales (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Bartonian middle Eocene of southern Morocco | journal = Journal of African Earth Sciences | volume = 111| pages = 273–286| doi = 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.08.006 | bibcode = 2015JAfES.111..273G }}</ref>
* ''Zeuglodon elliotsmithii'', ''Z. sensitivius'', and ''Z. zitteli'' were synonymized and grouped under the genus ''[[Saghacetus]]'' by a 1992 study.<ref>{{Cite journal| last = Gingerich | first = P. D. | author-link = Philip D. Gingerich| title = Marine Mammals (Cetacean and Sirenia) from the Eocene of Gebel Mokattam and Fayum, Egypt: Stratigraphy, Age, and Paleoenvironments| year = 1992 | journal = University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology | volume = 30 | pages = 1–84| oclc = 26941847| hdl = 2027.42/48630 }}</ref>
* ''Zeuglodon paulsoni'' from [[Ukraine]] (then the Russian Empire) was named by {{Harvnb|Brandt|1873}}. It was synonymized with ''[[Platyosphys]]'' but is now considered ''nomen dubium''. Gingerich and Zouhri (2015), however, maintain ''Platyosphys'' as valid.<ref name=GZ2015/><ref>{{Cite journal| last1 = Gol'din | first1 = Pavel| last2 = Zvonok | first2 = Evgenij| title = ''Basilotritus uheni'', a New Cetacean (Cetacea, Basilosauridae) from the Late Middle Eocene of Eastern Europe| year = 2013 | journal = Journal of Paleontology | volume = 87 | issue = 2 | pages = 254–268| doi = 10.1666/12-080R.1| bibcode = 2013JPal...87..254G| s2cid = 83864139}}</ref>
* ''Basilosaurus caucasicus'' also known as ''Basilosaurus caucasicum'' or ''Zeuglodon caucasicum'' was a species described in the [[Russian Empire]], it gets its name from the [[Caucasus]] of where it was found in the 1890s.<ref>{{cite journal |title=On Zeuglodont and other Cetacean Remains from the Tertiary of the Caucasus |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |volume=1892 |issue=4 |pages=558–581 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1892.tb01782.x |year=2009 |last1=Lydekker |first1=R. |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/72835 |access-date=25 July 2021 |archive-date=24 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124064635/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/72835 |url-status=live }}</ref> The fossil was reassigned to the toothed whale ''[[Microzeuglodon]] caucasicum''.<ref>{{cite web |title=†Microzeuglodon caucasicum Lydekker 1893 (toothed whale) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=90636 |website=Fossilworks}}</ref>
* ''Basilosaurus harwoodi ''was discovered in the [[Murray River]] near [[Wellington, South Australia|Wellington]] in [[South Australia]]. This species classification was controversial; T. S. Hall (1911) placed ''Basilosaurus harwoodi'' (or ''Zeuglodon harwoodi'') in the genus ''[[Metasqualodon]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=†Metasqualodon harwoodi Sanger 1881 (whale) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=63492 |website=Fossilworks.org |access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=On a molar tooth of Zeuglodon from the Tertiary beds on the Murray River near Wellington, S.A. |journal=Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clMFAAAAQAAJ&q=On+a+molar+tooth+of+Zeuglodon+from+the+Tertiary+beds+on+the+Murray+River+near+Wellington,+S.A.+Proceedings+of+the+Linnean+Society+of+New+South+Wales&pg=PA298|year = 1881|bibcode=1881PLSNS...5..298S |last1=Sanger |first1=E. B. |volume=5 |page=298 |doi=10.5962/bhl.part.15884 }}</ref>
*In 1906, German naturalist [[Othenio Abel]] thought fossils from the Eocene of Alabama, previously described in 1900 as being a ''Basilosaurus'' hip bone by American zoologist [[Frederic Augustus Lucas]], represented the shoulder of a large bird similar to ''[[Gastornis]]'', and named it ''Alabamornis gigantea''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Abel|first=O.|author-link=Othenio Abel|year=1906|title=Ueber den als Beckengurtel von Zeuglodon beschriebenen Schultergurtel eines Vogels aus dem Eocan von Alabama|trans-title=On the shoulder girdle of a bird from the Eocene of Alabama described as a pelvic girdle of ''Zeuglodon''|journal=Centralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie |volume=15|pages=450–458}}</ref> Lucas later countered his conclusion in 1908 as he reassigned the fossil specimens to the original conclusion of a ''Basilosaurus'' hip bone.<ref>{{cite journal |first=F. A.|last=Lucas|author-link=Frederic Augustus Lucas|title=Discussion and Correspondence: is ''Alabamornis'' a bird? |journal=Science |date=1908 |volume=28 |issue=686|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2JkSAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA311|page=311|doi=10.1126/science.27.686.311|pmid=17770689}}</ref>