Named By: | Gibbes in 1845 |
Time Period: | Late Eocene |
Location: | Egypt and the USA, together hinting at a broad distribution |
Size: | Around 5 meters long |
Diet: | Carnivore |
Fossil(s): | Multiple specimens, including juveniles |
Classification: | | Chordata | Mammalia | Cetacea | Archaeoceti | Basilosauridae | |
Also known as: | | Basilosaurus serratus | Dorudon intermedius | Dorudon stromeri | Doryodon serratus | Prozeuglodon stromeri | Zeuglodon intermedius | Zeuglodon serratum | Zeuglodon serratus | |
Dorudon ("Spear-Tooth") is a genus of extinct basilosaurid ancient whales that lived alongside Basilosaurus 40.4 to 33.9 million years ago, in the Eocene. They were about 5 m (16 ft) long and fed on small fish and mollusks. Dorudon lived in warm seas around the world. Fossils have been found along the former shorelines of the Tethys Sea in present-day Egypt and Pakistan, as well as in the United States, New Zealand, and Western Sahara.