Basilosaurus

 

Name: Basilosaurus ("king lizard")

Habitat: Oceans of North America, Africa and southern Asia

Historical Time: Middle Eocene (40-35 million years ago)

Size and Weight: Up to 60 feet long and 50-75 tons

Diet: Fish and squids

Fact: Probably the biggest prehistoric whale that ever lived, Basilosaurus was incorrectly identified as a marine reptile--hence its name, Greek for "king lizard" when the bones were first discovered in 1843 of this prehistoric whale, scientists then tried to amend their mistake by calling it Zeuglodo