Dorudon
Name: Dorudon
(Spear tooth).
Phonetic: Door-oo-don.
Named By: Gibbes - 1845.
Synonyms: Basilosaurus serratus, Dorudon
intermedius, Dorudon stromeri, Doryodon serratus, Prozeuglodon
stromeri, Zeuglodon intermedius, Zeuglodon serratum, Zeuglodon serratus.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Cetacea,
Archaeoceti, Basilosauridae.
Species: D. atrox, D. serratus.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Around 5 meters long.
Known locations: Egypt and the USA, together
hinting at a broad distribution.
Time period: Bartonian to Priabonian of the Eocene.
Fossil representation: Multiple specimens,
including juveniles.
Dorudon
is a good example of some of the many primitive whales
that were
swimming in the world’s oceans during the Eocene period. As an
early cetacean, Dorudon was a dedicated predator
of other marine
creatures that may have included everything from fish to other marine
mammals. Dorudon itself does bear a strong
resemblance to the much
larger Basilosaurus
that was also swimming in the same waters and at
the same time as Dorudon. This led to early
speculation about Dorudon
actually representing juvenile specimens of Basilosaurus;
however
more in depth study as well as the discoveries of actual Dorudon
juveniles has since quashed this theory.
Juvenile
Dorudon (which would have been called calves like
other juvenile
whales) fossils have been seen to have tooth marks on them that seem
to have been caused by the much larger Basilosaurus.
This is evidence
for a clear predator prey relationship where while Dorudon
were
predators, they in turn where preyed upon by other bigger predators.
This relationship was well illustrated in the episode Whale
Killer of
the BBC documentary series Walking with Beasts. Basilosaurus
was not
the only threat to Dorudon however as giant sharks
like
C.
angustidens
were also hunting in the world’s oceans.
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| More information on these whales can
be found on their respective pages; 1 - Pakicetus, 2 - Ambulocetus, 3 - Rodhocetus, 4 - Dorudon, 5, Brygmophyseter, 6 - Diorocetus. |
Further reading
- Description of the teeth of a new fossil animal found in the Green
Sand of South Carolina. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences
of Philadelphia 2(9):254-256 - R. W. Gibbes - 1845.
- On the fossil genus Basilosaurus, Harlan,
(Zeuglodon, Owen,) with a
notice of specimens from the Eocene Green Sand of South Carolina -
Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1 - Robert
Wilson Gibbes - 1847.
- A Descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Vertebrata of the Fayûm,
Egypt. - London: British Museum (Natural History). 26 pp. 255–257. - C.
W. Andrews - 1906.
- Marine Mammals (Cetacean and Sirenia) from the Eocene of Gebel
Mokattam and Fayum, Egypt: Stratigraphy, Age, and Paleoenvironments -
University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 30: 1–84 - P. D.
Gingerich - 1992.
- Form, Function, and Anatomy of Dorudon atrox
(Mammalia,
Cetacea): An
Archaeocete from the Middle to Late Eocene of Egypt - Papers on
Paleontology (University of Michigan) 34. - Mark D. Uhen - 2004.
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