Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Middle to Late Eocene Basilosaurines and Dorudontines

  • Chapter
The Emergence of Whales

Part of the book series: Advances in Vertebrate Paleobiology ((AIVP,volume 1))

Abstract

The study of Eocene whales in North American began when Dr. Richard Harlan described some bones from Louisiana near the Ouachita River (Harlan, 1834). Harlan compared the bones, which included a very large and strange vertebra, with other large extinct creatures known at the time and concluded that it was a very large reptile of sorts and named it Basilosaurus or “king lizard.”

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Abel, O. 1901. Les daupins longirostres du Boldérien (Miocène supérieur) des environs d’Anvers. Mem. Mus. R. Hist. Nat. Belg. 1:1–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abel, O. 1906. Ueber den als Beckengürtel von Zeuglodon beschriebenen Schultergürtel eines Vogels aus dem Eocän von Alabama. Zentralbl Mineral. Geol. Paläontol. 15:450–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abel, O. 1914. Die vorfahren der bartenwale. Denkschr. Kaiserlichen Akad. Wiss. Math. Naturwiss. Kl. 90:155–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, C. W. 1904. Further notes on the mammals of the Eocene of Egypt. Geol. Mag. London Ser. 5. 1:211–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, C. W. 1906. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Vertebrata of Fayum, Egypt. British Museum of Natural History, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, L. G. 1984. Whales, dolphins and porpoises: origin and evolution of the Cetacea, in: T. W. Broadhead (ed.), Mammals, Notes for a Short Course, pp. 139-154. University of Tennessee Department of Geological Sciences, Studies in Geology 8(1–4).

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, L. G., and Mitchell, E. 1978. Cetacea, in: V. J. Maglio and H. B. S. Cooke (eds.), The Evolution of African Mammals, pp. 582–602. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, L. G., and Sanders, A. E. 1996. The transition from archaeocetes to mysticetes: late Oligocene toothed mysticetes from near Charleston, South Carolina. Sixth North American Paleontological Convention Abstracts of Papers. Paleontolog. Soc. Spec. Pub. 8:24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, L. G., Domning, D. P., and Ray, C. E. 1985. Status of studies on fossil marine mammals. Mar. Mammal Sci. 1:15–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonaparte, C. L. 1849. [Classification of Havapatedyrene i Pinnipedia, Cete og Sirenia]. Forhandlinger ved de skandinaviske Naturforskeres femte Møde Kjøbenhaven 1847:618.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandt, J. F. 1873. Untersuchungen über die fossilen und subfossilen cetaceen Europa’s. Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Petersbourg, Ser. 7 20:1–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carus, C. G. 1847. Resultate geologischer, anatomischer und zoologischer Untersuchungen über das unter dem Namen Hydrarchos von Dr. A. C. Koch, zuerst nach Europa gebrachte und in Dresden ausgestellte grofse fossile Skelett, pp. 1–15. Arnoldische Buchhandlung, Dresden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carus, C. G. 1849. Das Kopfskelet des Zeuglodon hydrarchos. Nova Acta Leopold. 22:371–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cope, E. D. 1867 (1868). An addition to the VERTEBRATE FAUNA of the Miocene period, with a synopsis of the extinct CETACEA of the United States. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 19:138–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dames, W. B. 1883a. Über eine tertiäre Wirbelthierfauna von der westlichen Insel des Birket-el-Qunin im Fajum (Aegypten). Sitzungsber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. 6:129–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dames, W. B. 1883b. Ein Epistropheus von Zeuglodon sp. Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde 1883:3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dames, W. B. 1894. Über Zeuglodonten aus Aegypten und die Beziehungen der Archaeoceten zu den übrigen Cetaeeen. Paläontol. Abh. Jena N. F. 1:189–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dart, R. A. 1923. The brain of the Zeuglodontidae (Cetacea). Proc. Zool. Soc. London 42:615–654.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeKay, J. E. 1842. Zoology of New York, Natural History of New York. B. Appleton & Co. and Wiley & Putnam, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Domning, D. P., Morgan, G. S., and Ray, C. E. 1982. North American Eocene sea cows (Mammalia, Sirenia). Smithson. Contrib. Paleobiol. 52:1–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, D. C. 1992. Stratigraphie parsimony, in: W. P. Maddison and D. R. Maddison, MacClade 3.0 Manual, pp. 124–129. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flower, W. H. 1876. An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia. Macmillan & Co., London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fordyce, R. E. 1982. Dental anomaly in a fossil squalodont dolphin from New Zealand, and the evolution of polydonty in whales. N. Z. J. Zool. 9:419–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fordyce, R. E. 1985. Late Eocene archaeocete whale (Archaeoceti: Dorudontinae) from Waihao, South Canterbury, New Zealand. N. Z. J. Geol. Geophys. 28:351–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frazier, W. J., and Schwimmer, D. R. 1987. Regional Stratigraphy of North America. Plenum Press, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbes, R. W. 1845. Description of the teeth of a new fossil animal found in the Green Sand of South Carolina. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 2:254–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbes, R. W. 1847. On the fossil genus Basilosaurus, Harlan, (Zeuglodon, Owen) with a notice of specimens from the Eocene Green Sand of South Carolina. J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1:2–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, T. 1872. Arrangement of the families of mammals. Smithson. Misc. Collect. 11:1–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gingerich, P. D. 1992. Marine mammals (Cetacea and Sirenia) from the Eocene of Gebel Mokattam and Fayum, Egypt: stratigraphy, age and paleoenvironments. Univ. Michigan Mus. Paleontol. Pap. Paleontol. 30:1–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gingerich, P. D., and Uhen, M. D. 1996. Ancalecetus simonsi, a new dorudontine archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the early late Eocene of Wadi Hitan, Egypt. Contrib. Mus. Paleontol. Univ. Michigan 29:359–401.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gingerich, P. D., Wells, N. A., Russell, D. E., and Shah, S. M. I. 1983. Origin of whales in epicontinental remnant seas: new evidence from the early Eocene of Pakistan. Science 220:403–406.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gingerich, P. D., Smith, B. H., and Simons, E. L. 1990. Hind limbs of Eocene Basilosaurus isis: evidence of feet in whales. Science 229:154–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gingerich, P. D., Raza, S. M, Arif, M., Anwar, M., and Zhou, X. 1994. New whale from the Eocene of Pakistan and the origin of cetacean swimming. Nature 368:844–847.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gingerich, P. D., Arif, M., and Clyde, W. C. 1995. New archaeocetes (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the middle Eocene Domanda Formation of the Sulaiman Range, Punjab (Pakistan). Contrib. Mus. Paleontol. Univ. Michigan 29(11):291–330.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gingerich, P. D., Arif, M., Bhatti, M. A., Anwar, M., and Sanders, W. J. 1997. Basilosaurus drazindai and Basiloterus hussaini, new Archaeoceti (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the middle Eocene Drazinda Formation, with a revised interpretation of ages of whale-bearing strata in the Kirthar Group of the Sulaiman Range, Punjab (Pakistan). Contrib. Mus. Paleontol. Univ. Michigan 30:291–330.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammerschmidt, C. E. 1848. Resultate geologischer, anatomischer and zoologischer Untersuchungen [über Hydrarchos, Koch]. Haidingercs Ber. Mitt. Freunden Naturwiss. Wien 3:322–327.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haq, B. U., Hardenbol, J., and Vail, P. R. 1987. Chronology of fluctuating sea levels since the Triassic. Science 235:1156–1167.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harlan, R. 1834. Notice of fossil bones found in the Tertiary formation of the state of Louisiana. Trans. Am. Philos. Soc. Philadelphia 4:397–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hazel, J. E., Bybell, L. M., Christopher, R. A., Fredericksen, N. O., May, F. E., McLean, D. M., Poore, R. Z., Smith, C. C., Sohl, N. F., Valentine, P. C., and Witmer, R. J. 1977. Biostratigraphy of the deep corehole (Clubhouse Crossroads corehole 1) near Charleston, South Carolina. U. S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 1028:71–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulbert, R. C. 1994. Phylogenetic analysis of Eocene whales (“Archaeoceti”) with a diagnosis of a new North American protocetid genus. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 14:30A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulbert, R. C. 1996. Dental and basicranial anatomy of a late middle Eocene protocetid cetacean from the southeastern United States. Sixth North American Paleontological Convention Abstracts of Papers. Paleontol. Soc. Spec. Pap. 8:186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulbert, R. C., and Petkewich, R. M. 1991. Innominate of a middle Eocene (Lutetian) protocetid whale from Georgia. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 11:36A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulbert, R. C., Petkewich, R. M., Bishop, G. A., Bukry, D., and Aleshire, D. P. 1998. A new middle Eocene protocetid whale (Mammalia: Cetacea: Archaeoceti) and associated biota from Georgia. J. Paleontol. 72:905–925.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huner J. J. 1939. Geology of Caldwell and Winn Parishes. State of Louisiana Department of Conservation Geological Bulletin 15:1–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karlsen, K. 1962. Development of tooth germs and adjacent structures in the whalebone whale (Balaenoptera physalus (L.)). Hvalradets Skr. Sci. Results Mar. Biol. Res. 45:1–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellogg, R. 1928. The history of whales—their adaptation to life in the water. Q. Rev. Biol. 3:29–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kellogg, R. 1936. A review of the Archaeoceti. Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ. 482:1–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellum, L. B. 1926. Paleontology and stratigraphy of the Castle Hayne and Trent Marls in North Carolina. U. S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 143:1–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch, A. C. 1845a.Description of the Hydrarchos harlani: (Koch). B. Owen, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch, A. C. 1845b. Description of the Hydrargos sillimanii: (Koch) gigantic fossil reptile, or sea serpent. A. C. Koch, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch, A. C. 1846. Kurze Beschreibung des Hydrarchos harlani (Koch) eines reisenmässigen Meerungeheuers und dessen Entdeckung in Alabama in Nordamerika im Frühjahr 1845. Druck der Königl. Hofbuchdruckerei von C. C. Meinhold and Söhnen, Dresden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, K., and Sahni, A. 1986. Remingtonocetus harudiensis, new combination, a middle Eocene archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from western Kutch, India. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 6:326–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leidy, J. 1852. [Description of Pontogeneus priscus]. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 6:52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, F. A. 1900. The pelvic girdle of zeuglodon Basilosaurus cetoides (Owen), with notes on other portions of the skeleton. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 23:327–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenna, M. C. 1975. Toward a phylogenetic classification of the Mammalia, in: W. P. Luckett and F. S. Szalay (eds.), Phylogeny of the Primates, pp. 21–46. Plenum Press, New York.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, C. S. J. 1923. The telescoping of the cetacean skull. Smithson. Misc. Collect. 76:1–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, E. D. 1989. A new cetacean from the late Eocene La Meseta Formation, Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 46:2219–2235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moustafa, Y. S. 1954. Additional information on the skull of Prozeuglodon isis and the morphological history of the Archaeoceti. Proc. Egypt. Acad. Sci. 9:80–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, J. 1849. Über die fossilen Reste der Zeuglodonten von Nordamerica. Berlag von G. Reimer, Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, J. 1851. Neue Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Zeuglodonten. Ber. Bekanntmach. Verh. Königlichen Preufs. Akad. Wiss. Berlin April 28:236-246.

    Google Scholar 

  • ’Leary, M. A., and Rose, K. D. 1995. Postcranial skeleton of the early Eocene mesonychid Pachyaena (Mammalia: Mesonychia). J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 15:401–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owen, R. 1839. Geological Society. The Athenaeum 585:35–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen, R. 1842a. Observations on the teeth of the Zeuglodon, Basilosaurus of Dr. Harlan. Proc. Geol. Soc. London 3:23–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen, R. 1842b. Observations on the Basilosaurus of Dr. Harlan (Zeuglodon cetoides, Owen). Trans. Geol. Soc. London 6:69–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilleri, G. 1985. Record of Dorudon osiris (Archaeoceti) from Wadi-el-Nuturn, lower Nile Valley. Invest. Cetacea 17:35–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randazzo, A. F., Kosters, M., Jones, D. S., and Portell, R. W. 1990. Paleoecology of shallow-marine carbonate environments, middle Eocene of peninsular Florida. Sediment. Geol. 66:1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichenbach, L. 1847. Systematisches, in: C. G. Cams, Resultate geologischer, anatomischer und zoologischer Untersuchungen über das unter den Namen Hydrarchos von Dr. A. C. Koch zuerst nach Eurpa gebrachte und in Dresden augestelte grofse fossile Skelett. Arnoldische Buchhandlung, Dresden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahni, A., and Mishra, V. P. 1972. A new species of Protocetus (Cetacea) from the middle Eocene of Kutch, western India. Palaeontology 15:490–495.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahni, A., and Mishra, V. P. 1975. Lower Tertiary vertebrates from western India. Monogr. Palaeontol. Soc. India 3:1–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, A. E. 1974. A paleontological survey of the Cooper Marl and Santee Limestone near Harleyville, South Carolina preliminary report. Geol. Notes 18:4–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schweinfurth, G. A. 1886. Reise in das Depressionsgebiet im Umkreise des Fajum im Januar 1886. Z. Ges. Erdkurde Berlin 21:96–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scudder, S. H. 1882. Universal index to genera in zoology. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. 19:1–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seeley, H. G. 1876. Notice of the occurrence of remains of a British fossil zeuglodon (Z. wanklyni, Seeley) in the Barton Clay of the Hampshire coast. Q. J. Geol. Soc. London 32:428–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seeley, H. G. 1881. Note on the caudal vertebra of a cetacean discovered by Prof. Judd in the Brockenhurst beds, indicative of a new type allied to Balaenoptera (Balaenoptera juddi). Q. J. Geol. Soc. London 37:709–712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slijper, E. J. 1936. Die Cetacean. Capita Zool. 7:1–590.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slijper, E. J. 1946. Comparative biologic-anatomical investigations on the vertebral column and spinal musculature of mammals. Verh. K. Ned Akad. Wet. Afd. Natuurkd. 42:1–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slijper, E. J. 1979. Whales (2nd ed.). Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stromer, E. 1903. Zeuglodon-reste aus dem Oberen Mittelocän des Fajum. Beitr. Paläontol. Geol. Österreich-Ungarns Orients 15:65–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stromer, E. 1908. Die Archaeoceti des Ägyptischen Eozäns. Beitr. Paläontol. Geol. Österreich-Ungarns Orients 21:106–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swift, C. C., and Barnes, L. G. 1996. Stomach contents of Basilosaurus cetoides: implications for the evolution of cetacean feeding behavior, and evidence for vertebrate fauna of epicontinental Eocene seas. Sixth North American Paleontological Convention Abstracts of Papers. Paleontol. Soc. Spec. Pap. 8:380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thewissen, J. G. M. 1994. Phylogenetic aspects of cetacean origins: a morphological perspective. J. Mamm. Evol. 2:157–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thewissen, J. G. M., Hussain, S. T., and Arif, M. 1994. Fossil evidence for the origin of aquatic locomotion in archaeocete whales. Science 263:210–212.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thewissen, J. G. M., Madar, S. I., and Hussain, S. T. 1996. Ambulocetus natans, an Eocene cetacean (Mammalia) from Pakistan. Cour. Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg 191:1–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trofimov, B. A., and Gromova, V. I. 1968. Order Cetacea, in: V. I. Gromova (ed.), Fundamentals of Paleontology: Mammals, pp. 225–241. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem.

    Google Scholar 

  • True, F. W. 1908. The fossil cetacean, Dorudon serratus GIBBES. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 52:5–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuomey, M. 1847. Notice of the discovery of a cranium of the Zeuglodon (Basilosaurus). J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1:16–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhen, M. D. 1991. Vertebral proportions as indicators of locomotor style in mammals. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 11:59A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhen, M. D. 1994. Forelimb of late middle Eocene Prozeuglodon atrox (Mammalia, Cetacea) from Fayum, Egypt. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 14:51A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhen, M. D. 1996a. Dorudon atrox (Mammalia, Cetacea): form, function, and phylogenetic relationships of an archaeocete from the late middle Eocene of Egypt. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 608 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhen, M. D. 1996b. Composition and characteristics of the subfamily Dorudontinae (Archaeoceti, Cetacea). Sixth North American Paleontological Convention Abstracts of Papers. Paleontol. Soc. Spec. Pub. 8:403.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhen, M. D. 1996c. New protocetid archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the late middle Eocene Cook Mountain Formation of Louisiana. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 16:70A.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, R. M. 1980. Middle Eocene large mammal assemblage with tethyan affinities, Ganda Kas region, Pakistan. J. Paleontol. 54:508–533.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyman, J. 1845. [Communication on skeleton of Hydrarchos sillimani]. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 2:65–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, X., Sanders, W. J., and Gingerich, P. D. 1992. Functional and behavioral implications of vertebral structure in Pachyaena ossifraga (Mammalia, Mesonychia). Contrib. Mus. Paleontol. Univ. Michigan 28:289–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, X., Zhai, R., Gingerich, P. D., and Chen, L. 1995. Skull of a new mesonychid (Mammalia, Mesonychia) from the late Paleocene of China. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 15:387–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zullo, V. A., and Harris, W. B. 1987. Sequence stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and correlation of Eocene through lower Miocene strata in North Carolina. Cushman Found. Foraminiferal Res. Spec. Pub. 24:197–214.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 48303-0801, USA

    Mark D. Uhen

Authors
  1. Mark D. Uhen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio, 44272, USA

    J. G. M. Thewissen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Uhen, M.D. (1998). Middle to Late Eocene Basilosaurines and Dorudontines. In: Thewissen, J.G.M. (eds) The Emergence of Whales. Advances in Vertebrate Paleobiology, vol 1. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0159-0_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0159-0_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0161-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0159-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation