Name:
Basiloterus
(other king).
Phonetic: Ba-sil-o-teh-rus.
Named By: P. D. Gingerich, M. Arif, M.
A. Bhatti, M. Anwar & W. J. Sanders - 1997.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Cetacea,
Basilosauridae, Basilosaurinae.
Species: B. hussaini (type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Unavailable due to lack of remains.
Known locations: Pakistan - Drazinda Formation.
Possibly England - Barton Beds Formation.
Time period: Bartonian of the Eocene.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains
including two lumbar vertebrae.
The
description of the whale genus Basiloterus was only
based upon the
description of two lumber vertebrae. These vertebrae have been
described as being close to the form of the vertebrae of Basilosaurus,
though not as long. This may indicate that although similar in
form, Basiloterus was quite a bit smaller than
the huge
Basilosaurus. Whale fossils from the Barton Beds
Formation of England
have also been identified as possibly belonging to the Basiloterus
genus.
The genus name Basilosaurinae means ‘other king’, a reference to
the relative genus Basilosaurus which means ‘king
lizard’
(information for why a whale was called lizard is on the Basilosaurus
page). The type species name is in honour of Dr S. Taseer Hussain.
Further reading
- 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) -
Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of
Michigan 30 (2): 55–81. - P. D. Gingerich, M.
Arif, M. A. Bhatti, M. Anwar & W. J. Sanders
- 1997.