Editing Basilosaurus (section)

===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>