| The Alabama doctors declared it a huge reptile, and bestowed upon it the name of basilosaurus. |
| Although Basilosaurus possessed a fluke and peduncle, Buchholtz dismisses these features because they are too short relative to body length. |
| The direct ancestors of today's cetaceans are probably found within the Dorudontidae whose most famous member, Dorudon atrox, lived at the same time as Basilosaurus. |
| The first of the truly gigantic whales, Basilosaurus had the serpentine shape of a sea monster and short, sharp teeth for hunting sharks and other prey. |
| In Basilosaurus, nearly all of these structures lay within the body wall, and most parts were immobile. |
| Then they found tiny legs on a 50-foot long, 40-million year old whale named Basilosaurus. |
