Basilotritus

Basilotritus is a genus of basilosaurid early whale known from the early late Middle Eocene (late Lutetian to Bartonian, 42 to 37.2 million years ago) Kiev Formation of Ukraine, Stockletten Formation of Germany, Tongeren Formation of the Netherlands, Giushi Formation of Egypt and the United States (Castle Hayne Formation, North Carolina and Piney Point Formation, Virginia).

Basilotritus
Temporal range: late Lutetian-Bartonian
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: †Basilosauridae
Subfamily: †Basilosaurinae
Genus: †Basilotritus
Gol'din & Zvonok 2013
Species

Basilotritus uheni

Basilotritus uheni has been found in the late Middle Eocene (Bartonian) Kiev Formation at Beloskelevatoye, Ukraine, making it the oldest fossil cetacean from Eastern Europe. Its holotype, NMNH-P OF-2096, consists of a partial skeleton.[1]

Basilotritus wardi

Basilotritus wardi is known from a partial skeleton collected in the late Lutetian (~42 Ma) of North Carolina. It was originally described as a species of the protocetid Eocetus, E. wardii.[2] Because this species displays a mix of protocetid and basilosaurid traits, the original generic assignment was questioned by subsequent authors.[3] This skepticism was confirmed by the discovery of B. uheni, allowing for "E." wardi to be referred to Basilotritus.[1]

References
  1. Gol'din, Pavel & Zvonok, Evgenij (2013). "Basilotritus uheni, a New Cetacean (Cetacea, Basilosauridae) from the Late Middle Eocene of Eastern Europe". Journal of Paleontology. 87 (2): 254–268. doi:10.1666/12-080R.1.
  2. Uhen, M. D. (May 1999). "New species of protocetid archaeocete whale, Eocetus wardii (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the middle Eocene of North Carolina". Journal of Paleontology. 73 (3): 512–528. doi:10.1017/S002233600002802X.
  3. Geisler, Jonathan H; Sanders, Albert E; Luo, Zhe-Xi (July 2005). "A new protocetid whale (Cetacea, Archaeoceti) from the late middle Eocene of South Carolina". American Museum Novitates 3480: 1–68. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2005)480[0001:ANPWCA2.0.CO;2]. OCLC 4630500767.
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