Image: Basilosaurid sizes

Description: Size comparison between a human (lower left) and genera of the extinct whale family Basilosauridae. Scale squares: 1 metre. Dorudon (upper left): length is based on measurement of vertebral column in the skeletal diagram of the specimens UM 101222 and UM 101215.[1] Basilosaurus (centre): often said to have measured about 18 metres long.[2] It should be noted that Basilosaurus, as shown here, consists of two species, the smaller B. isis which is estimated to have measured 15-18 metres (the silhouette in the image is based on the specimen CGM 42195, about 15 metres long) and the larger type species B. cetoides, about 17-20 metres long.[3] Cynthiacetus (lower right): based on measuring the holotype of C. peruvianus MNHN.F.PRU10.[4] References ↑ Gingerich P. D., et.al. (2009). New Protocetid Whale from the Middle Eocene of Pakistan: Birth on Land, Precocial Development, and Sexual Dimorphism. PLoS ONE 4 (2): e4366 ↑ Stated in Walking with Beasts episode 2: Whale Killer (BBC, 2001). ↑ Voss, M., et al. (2019). Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene. PLoS ONE 14 (1): e0209021 ↑ Martínez-Cáceres M., Lambert O & Muizon C. de (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): p. 7-163
Title: Basilosaurid sizes
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