Zeuglodon (meaning "yoked tooth") was a name given by Richard Owen to the poorly named Basilosaurus fossil, after establishing that it was not a reptile, but a mammal. Though "yoked tooth" was more accurate than "king lizard", paleontological convention requires that the earliest name for a species be given priority, even if mistaken. Thus, the creature is still referred to primarily as "Basilosaurus". Sir Richard Owen and Dinornis bird skeleton Sir Richard Owen (July 20, 1804 - December 18, 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist. ... Basilosaurus was a species of primitive cetacean that lived some 38 million years ago. ... Orders Crocodylia - Crocodilians Rhynchocephalia - Tuataras Squamata Suborder Sauria - Lizards Suborder Serpentes - Snakes Testudines - Turtles Superorder Dinosauria Saurischia Ornithischia The reptiles are a group of vertebrate animals. ... Orders Subclass Monotremata Monotremata Subclass Marsupialia Didelphimorphia Paucituberculata Microbiotheria Dasyuromorphia Peramelemorphia Notoryctemorphia Diprotodontia Subclass Placentalia Xenarthra Dermoptera Desmostylia Scandentia Primates Rodentia Lagomorpha Insectivora Chiroptera Pholidota Carnivora Perissodactyla Artiodactyla Cetacea Afrosoricida Macroscelidea Tubulidentata Hyracoidea Proboscidea Sirenia The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals primarily characterized by the presence of mammary... A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... In biology, a species is a kind of organism. ... Basilosaurus was a species of primitive cetacean that lived some 38 million years ago. ...
There has been speculation that the Zeuglodon is not dead, but inhabiting cold water lakes like Loch Ness and Lake Champlain as their famous monsters.
While this seems unlikely, it is not at all impossible, since the Coelacanth, a primitive fish thought to be extinct for 65 million years, showed up off the coast of South Africa in 1938.
The Zeuglodon is the official state fossil of Alabama and is protected by law.
When the British anatomist Sir Richard Owen studied the spine, mandibular fragments, arms, and ribs (recently found) he proclaimed them to be mammalian.
Owen proposed renaming the find to Zeuglodon cetoides (Yoked-tooth), which is now a junior synonym; though the latter is considered by many to be a more fitting name, the first-published name always takes precedent.
Zeuglodon name is in reference to the double rooted teeth typical of marine mammals.
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