Alabama State Fossil: Zeuglodon (Whale) (Basilosaurus Cetoides)

Zeuglodon (Whale)

(Basilosaurus Cetoides)

Adopted in 1984.

The Zeuglodon, Basilosaurus Cetoides, was adopted in 1984 as the state fossil. In 1834 a complete skeleton of a basilosaur (king of the lizards) was found on a plantation in southwestern Alabama. Staff of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences studied the skeleton and said it was not a lizard, but a meat-eating member of the whale family. Because of this they renamed it the zeuglodon (Genus Basilosaurus). Since it was a sea animal they estimated it to be over forty-five million years old (Eocene period). Zeuglodons averaged from fifty-five to seventy feet long and had tails up to forty feet long.

Basilosaurus had a wedged-shaped head up to 5 feet long with jaws containing two types of teeth. The teeth in the front, anterior, of the jaw had cone-shaped teeth which caught and held its prey while triangular-shaped teeth in the rear, posterior, of the jaw sliced them up. The type and amount of wear on the teeth of the Basilosaurus indicates that it likely ate fish and squid (Johnston 1991 Carpenter and White 1986).

The bones of Basilosaurus cetoides (Owen) and other primitive whales have been found throughout a belt across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama where exposures of Middle and Upper Eocene marine strata, called the Moodys Branch Formation (or Marl) and the Yazoo Clay occur. The vertebrates were so common within some areas of this belt that local residents used them as andirons for fireplaces and blocks to support cabins. The bones and skeletons of Basilosaurus also have been found in Australia, Egypt, within other marine sediments of Upper Eocene age (Domning 1969, Johnston 1991, Thurmond 1981).

Fossil remains of this gigantic whale were first found in Clarke County about 1833; bones were later discovered in Choctaw and Washington Counties.

Fossil remains of the Basilosaurus cetoides may not be removed from the state without prior written approval of the governor.

The ancient whale fossil is most abundant in Alabama and many zeuglodon skeletons have been found here. One was found in 1982 near Washington County and is now displayed at the McWane Center in Birmingham. Another was found in Alabama and sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. These are the two most comprehensive Basilosaurus cetoides skeletons ever found.

In 1984 the legislature made the zeuglodon the state fossil by Act no. 84-66.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom

Animalia (animals)

Phylum

Chordata (having a spinal cord)

Subphylum

Vertebrata -- vertebrates

Class

Mammalia (mammals)

Order

Cetacea (aquatic mammals)

Suborder

Archaeoceti (archaeocetes or zeuglodonts, extinct, primitive whales with teeth)

Family

Basilosauridae (late Eocene) - larger, more whale-like cetaceans

Genus

Basilosaurus

Species

Basilosaurus Cetoides

Most US states have made a state fossil designation, in many cases during the 1980s. It is common to designate one species in which fossilization has occurred, rather than a single specimen, or a category of fossils not limited to a single species.

Some states that lack a "state fossil" have nevertheless singled out a fossil for formal designation such as a state dinosaur, rock, gem or stone.

fossil (fŏs'əl)
n.
1. A remnant or trace of an organism of a past geologic age, such as a skeleton or leaf imprint, embedded and preserved in the earth's crust.
2. One, such as a rigid theory, that is outdated or antiquated.

adj.
1. Characteristic of or having the nature of a fossil.
2. Being or similar to a fossil.
3. Belonging to the past; antiquated.

[From Latin fossilis, dug up, from fossus, past participle of fodere, to dig.]

State Fossils