Pontobasileus
''Pontobasileus'' is an Archaeoceti, archaeocete whale known from a fragment of a single tooth described by . It can questionably be dated to the Eocene of Alabama. Leidy assigned the tooth to Archaeoceti, but without neither a stratigraphic nor a geographic locality it is virtually impossible to argue for or against this classification. The tooth was later classified as an Archaeoceti ''incertae sedis'' and even a squalodont odontocete (a more recent whale), but can also be assigned to Protocetidae. References ; Notes ; Sources * * * * ** {{Taxonbar, from=Q24884064 Archaeoceti Prehistoric cetacean genera ...
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Protocetidae
Protocetidae, the protocetids, form a diverse and heterogeneous group of extinct cetaceans known from Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America. Description There were many genera, and some of these are very well known (e.g., ''Rodhocetus''). Known protocetids had large fore- and hindlimbs that could support the body on land, and it is likely that they lived amphibiously: in the sea and on land. It is unclear at present whether protocetids had flukes (the horizontal tail fin of modern cetaceans). However, what is clear is that they are adapted even further to an aquatic life-style. In ''Rodhocetus'', for example, the sacrum – a bone that in land-mammals is a fusion of five vertebrae that connects the pelvis with the rest of the vertebral column – was divided into loose vertebrae. However, the pelvis retain a sacroiliac joint. Furthermore, the nasal openings are now halfway up the snout; a first step towards the telescoped condition in modern whales. ...
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