| Description | Dorudon ("spear-tooth") is a genus of extinct basilosaurid ancient whales that lived alongside Basilosaurus 40.4 to 33.9 million years ago in the Eocene. They were about 5 m (16 ft) long and fed on small fish and mollusks. Dorudon lived in warm seas around the world. Fossils have been found along the former shorelines of the Tethys Sea in present-day Egypt and Pakistan, as well as in the United States, New Zealand, and Western Sahara.
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| Source Data | |
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| Rank | genus |
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| Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Cetacea : Basilosauridae : Dorudon |
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| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted |
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Classification
(PBDB,GBIF) | |
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| Scientific Name | Dorudon Gibbes, 1845 |
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| Name Published In | Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 2 |
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| Opinions (PBDB) | | Name | Rank | Opinion | Evidence | Author |
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| Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | stated without evidence | Delete, 1846 | | Dorudon | genus | subjective synonym of Basilosaurus | stated without evidence | Gibbes, 1847 | | Dorudon | genus | misspelling of Dorudon | stated without evidence | Pictet, 1853 | | Dorudon | genus | subjective synonym of Basilosaurus | stated without evidence | Bronn, 1853 | | Dorudon | genus | subjective synonym of Zeuglodon | stated without evidence | Pictet, 1853 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated without evidence | Cope, 1867 | | Dorudon | genus | subjective synonym of Basilosaurus | stated without evidence | Gill, 1872 | | Dorudon | genus | misspelling of Dorudon | stated without evidence | Zittel, 1894 | | Dorudon | genus | subjective synonym of Zeuglodon | stated without evidence | Zittel, 1894 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated without evidence | Hay, 1902 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Zeuglodontidae | stated without evidence | Stromer, 1908 | | Dorudon | genus | subjective synonym of Zeuglodon | stated without evidence | Zittel, 1925 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontidae | stated without evidence | Kellogg, 1928 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontidae | stated with evidence | Kellogg, 1936 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontidae | stated without evidence | Simpson, 1945 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Prozeuglodontidae | stated without evidence | Moustafa, 1954 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | implied | Carroll, 1988 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated without evidence | Benton, 1993 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | stated without evidence | Uhen, 1996 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | implied | McKenna and Bell, 1997 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | stated without evidence | Uhen, 1998 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Cetacea | second hand | Sepkoski, 2002 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | stated without evidence | Uhen, 2002 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated without evidence | Geisler and Sanders, 2003 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | stated without evidence | Uhen, 2004 | | Dorudon | genus | misspelling of Dorudon | stated without evidence | Uhen, 2004 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated without evidence | Clementz et al., 2006 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | stated without evidence | Bouetel and Muizon, 2006 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Cetaceamorpha | stated without evidence | Spaulding et al., 2009 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | stated without evidence | Fordyce and Roberts, 2009 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated without evidence | Fitzgerald, 2010 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | stated without evidence | Schouten, 2011 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated without evidence | Gingerich, 2012 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated with evidence | Uhen, 2013 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated without evidence | Cioppi, 2014 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated with evidence | Boessenecker and Fordyce, 2015 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | implied | Gao and Ni, 2015 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated with evidence | Marx et al., 2016 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated without evidence | Berta, 2017 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Basilosauridae | stated with evidence | Uhen, 2018 | | Dorudon | genus | belongs to Dorudontinae | implied | Mahdy et al., 2019 |
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| Status (PBDB) | extinct |
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| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 3 |
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| First Recorded Appearance | 41.3 - 38.0 Ma
Eocene |
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| Last Recorded Appearance | 37.2 - 33.9 Ma
Paleogene |
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| Environment | marine |
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| Motility | actively mobile |
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| Diet | carnivore |
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| Reproduction | viviparous |
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| Ontogeny | modification of parts (based on Cetacea) |
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| Taphonomy | hydroxylapatite |
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| Primary Reference (PBDB) | R W Gibbes. 1845. 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 |
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| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorudon |
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| Gibbes R W 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 |
| Cope E. D. An addition to the vertebrate fauna of the Miocene period, with a synopsis of the extinct Cetacea of the United States, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 19 4, 138-157 |
| Hay O. P. (1902) , Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America. Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey 179, 1-868 |
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| Gingerich P. D. (1992) 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 |
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| Uhen M. D. (2004) Form, Function, and Anatomy of Dorudon atrox (Mammalia, Cetacea): An Archaeocete from the Middle to Late Eocene of Egypt, University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 34, 1-222 |
| van Vliet H. J. (2004) Wadi Hitan, het dal der walvissen over oerwalvissen in Egypte en de evolutie der walvissen, Grondboor & Hamer 6, 141-147 |
| Bouetel V., Muizon C. (2006) The anatomy and relationships of Piscobalaena nanna (Cetacea, Mysticeti), a Cetotheriidae s.s. from the early Pliocene of Peru, Geodiversitas 28 2, 319-395 |
| Clementz M. T., Goswami A., et al (2006) Isotopic records from early whales and sea cows: Contrasting patterns of ecological transition 26 2, 355-370 |
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| Fordyce R. E., Roberts C. D. (2009) Fossil Pinnipedia and Cetacea, New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity, 553 |
| Spaulding M., O'Leary M. A., et al (2009) Relationships of Cetacea (Artiodactyla) among mammals: Increased taxon sampling alters interpretations of key fossils and character evolution, PloS One 4 9, e7062 |
| Fitzgerald E. M. G. (2010) The morphology and systematics of Mammalodon colliveri (Cetacea: Mysticeti), a toothed mysticete from the Oligocene of Australia, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158, 367-476 |
| Martinez-Cáceres M., Muizon C. (2011) A new basilosaurid (Cetacea, Pelagiceti) from the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene Otuma Formation of Peru, Comptes Rendus Palevol 10, 517-526 doi:0.1016/j.crpv.2011.03.006 |
| Schouten S. (2011) De wervels van Basilosauridae: een overzicht van en een vergelijking met raadselachtige vondsten uit de Noordzee, Cranium 28 2, 17-25 |
| Gingerich P. D. (2012) Evolution of whales from land to sea, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 156 3, 309-323 |
| Uhen M. D. (2013) A review of North American Basilosauridae, Alabama Museum of Natural History Bulletin 31 2, 1-45 |
| Cioppi E. (2014) I cetacei fossili a Firenze, una storia lunga più di 250 anni, Museologia Scientifica Memorie 13, 81-89 |
| Gingerich P. D., Cappetta H. (2014) A new archaeocete and other marine mammals (Cetacea and Sirenia) from lower middle Eocene phosphate deposits of Togo, Journal of Paleontology 88 1, 109-129 doi:10.1666/13-040 |
| Boessenecker R. W., Fordyce R. E. (2015) A new genus and species of eomysticetid (Cetacea: Mysticeti) and a reinterpretation of ‘Mauicetus’ lophocephalus Marples, 1956: Transitional baleen whales from the upper Oligocene of New Zealand, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society doi:10.1111/zoj.12297 |
| Marx F. G., Lambert O., et al (2016) Cetacean Paleobiology, 1-319 |
| Berta A. (2017) , The Rise of Marine Mammals: 50 Million Years of Evolution, 1-198 |
| Martínez-Cáceres M., Lambert O., et al (2017) The anatomy and phylogenetic affinities of Cynthiacetus peruvianus, a large Dorudon-like basilosaurid (Cetacea, Mammalia) from the late Eocene of Peru, Geodiversitas 39 1, 1-163 doi:10.5252/g2017n1a1 |
| Uhen M. D. (2018) Basilosaurids and Kekenodontids, Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 3rd Edition, 78-80 |
| Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
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| Sepkoski, J. J., Jr. (2002). A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology. 363, 1-560. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 2 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
Dorudon ✝
Huber Mine No. 34, Twiggs County, Georgia, USA