Basilosaurus isis

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
sounder1995.deviantart.com/art…

Basilosaurus isis (Andrews, 1904)Synapsida
Therapsida
Mammalia
Theria
Eutheria
Laurasiatheria
Cetartiodactyla
Whippomorpha
Cetacea
Basilosauridae

Late Eocene
Egypt and Jordan

12 - 20 m

This ancient predatory whale's strange name comes from the fact that her bones were initially thought to belong to some sort of enormous non-avian sauropsid (reptile for those less cladistically inclined). Having the strongest (calculated) bite force of any known mammal (about 16,400 pounds at her upper third premolar), she would have fed her young by biting open the skulls of juvenile Dorudon, another (smaller) ancient whale. (Source: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti…)

Friday, September 25th, 2015