The First Super Predator To Emerge After The Dinosaurs

0:00despite their usual portrayal being the

0:02gentle Giants of the oceans and seas

0:04whales can still be undoubtedly scary as

0:07after all the most dominant apex

0:08predator within the water is arguably a

0:10kind of whale at least in name and that

0:12is of course the orcas who are known to

0:15preon virtually anything including

0:17sharks and other cations yet even the

0:20most successful predatory whales don't

0:22necessarily look the part as their

0:24physical appearances are not

0:25particularly nightmarish at least not in

0:28the way that sharks or other aquatic

0:29creatures can be such as certain

0:31cephalopods or even non- shark fish but

0:34a long time ago as in closer to the

0:36dinosaurs than now there was a whale

0:38that had a deeply unsettling appearance

0:40and looked unlike anything seen today

0:43and this prehistoric nightmare wasn't

0:44just all show and no tell since it

0:47basically was also the first marine

0:49animal after the most of sword's

0:50Extinction to become a multi-ton super

0:53Predator that was capable of hunting its

0:54own kind down and perhaps the strangest

0:57thing is that you could find this giant

0:59hyper carnivorous whale in one of the

1:01driest places of today the Sahara Desert

1:04this was the

1:06basilosaurus while it's fairly well

1:08known for having lived in what is now

1:09the Sahara Desert the first remains of

1:11this prehistoric giant actually came out

1:13of the United States as in 1834 a group

1:16of paleontologists uncovered a diverse

1:18range of different body parts within the

1:20state of Louisiana the remains in

1:22question were massive in size and Strung

1:24Out Over an area of land greater than a

1:26soccer field which let paleontologists

1:28know right away that they had discovered

1:30something crazy but they had absolutely

1:33no idea what it could be as at the time

1:35no extinct whale had ever been

1:37discovered so naturally based on its

1:39size they concluded that the only thing

1:41it could have been was a real life sea

1:43monster they also decided based off of

1:45the size of its vertebrae that it must

1:47have been longer than almost anything

1:49currently alive with an estimated length

1:51of 100 ft or 30 m and that it was

1:54reptilian in nature as its body shape

1:56which was unusually narrow and long did

1:58not match anything seen at the time in

2:00marine mammals instead more closely

2:02resembling the postcranial structure

2:04seen in snakes or mosasaurs and this

2:06misclassification actually led to its

2:08name the basilosaurus which translates

2:11to the king lizard and sadly only more

2:14blunders would occur in following years

2:16sometimes occurring in ways that no one

2:18could have expected as best demonstrated

2:20by the naturalist Albert kooch who

2:23believed that the basilosaurus or rather

2:25hydros as he called it was a giant sea

2:28snake like monster that was even larger

2:30than a blue whale this outlandish belief

2:33was based off of his reconstruction of

2:34this creature which he did by stitching

2:36together five different basilosaurus

2:39skeletons it wouldn't be to the late mid

2:411800s that this and previous confusions

2:44were resolved after multiple specimens

2:46were found with their teeth intact which

2:48in addition to being Giant and blad

2:50likee also heavily resembled those seen

2:52in fish eating tooth whales of today

2:54leading paleontologist to realize that

2:56it had been a primitive whale all along

2:59and with this new info it was finally

3:01reclassified as a whale and added to its

3:03very own family of cations the basilo

3:05sord who are defined by small hind limbs

3:08that have well-defined femurs lower legs

3:11and feet this group is an extremely

3:13important part of the evolutionary story

3:15of citations as they are likely the

3:17first fully aquatic whales to evolv with

3:19the basilosaurus itself being one of the

3:21first members on the scene having

3:23appeared around 41.3 million years ago

3:26during the letian stage of the EOS scene

3:28within this family is joined by roughly

3:3030 different species two of which belong

3:33to the basilosaurus genus the stoidis

3:35and Isis and of all the members in this

3:38group basilosaurus was by far the

3:40largest which along with its ancient age

3:42made it possibly the first animal to

3:44have evolved after the mososaurus that

3:46was capable of preying on and

3:48challenging large sharks who after the

3:50KT Extinction had reigned Supreme for

3:52millions of years although while indeed

3:55massive it wasn't as giant as originally

3:58thought with current estimates

3:59suggesting that the basilosaurus at toes

4:02had a matured length of up to 20 M or 66

4:05ft while the Isis species the smaller of

4:07the two grew to be around 18 M or 59 ft

4:11now this would still make the

4:12basilosaurus one of the longest whales

4:14of today but ironically it wasn't as

4:17heavy as most Bine whales which is due

4:19to the fact that its body was heavily

4:21streamlined and narrow and some would

4:22even resembl that of a mosasaur

4:25nevertheless it was still heavy by most

4:27standards with individuals weighing over

4:297 tons yet some even think that this

4:31number is much too light given its

4:33measurements and believe that it was

4:35closer to 15 or 20 tons in either case

4:38its stature not only made it the largest

4:40Predator within its environment but also

4:42the largest animal on Earth for a good

4:44duration of its existence this rendered

4:47it the Earth's Undisputed apex predator

4:49but it wasn't size alone that granted it

4:51this title as like any great Predator

4:53the basilosaurus had a wicked weapon to

4:56complement its size killer jaws and it's

4:59even arguable that it had one of the

5:00most terrifying looking mouths and teeth

5:02of any known whale as it was

5:04proportionally extremely robust and full

5:06of large bulky teeth that widely varied

5:08in size and type resulting in the

5:10basilosaurus having both canines and

5:13mullers which is something not typically

5:15seen in modern whales but their canines

5:18and mullers were nothing like ours as

5:20the canines were curved and sharp while

5:22the mullers bore extremely large and

5:24deep serration that allowed it to cleave

5:26through chunks of tough flesh the

5:29presence of the these two types of teeth

5:30further meant that it likely chewed its

5:32food a hypothesis corroborated by

5:34extreme wear and tear found on them

5:36which also implied that it could Chomp

5:38down with ridiculous power and this was

5:41proven after reconstructions which

5:43estimated that the basilosaurus Isis

5:45meaning the smaller of the species mind

5:47you could bite down with 20,000 Newtons

5:49of force meaning it could easily crush a

5:52human's femur the strongest bone in our

5:54bodies five times over with a single

5:56bite and with such a vicious weapon the

5:58basilosaurus could virtually hunt

6:00anything and amazingly enough we don't

6:02even have to guess what that was as a

6:04highly unique specimen was located with

6:06its stomach contents in place which

6:08showed that these whales had a

6:10preference for large bony fish and

6:11sharks that even included species of the

6:14Odus A genus of shark that would

6:16eventually yield the largest shark of

6:18all time the Megalodon what's more is

6:21that they also discovered the remains of

6:22another whale within it the dordon a

6:25fellow basilo sord which while not being

6:28as large as the basilosaurus

6:30could still get quite big with adults

6:32reaching 5 m or 16 ft in length while

6:34weighing well over 2 tons and to make

6:37the situation even more Grizzly General

6:39Studies on dordon skeletons found that

6:42dozens had catastrophic damage to their

6:44heads which was consistent with

6:46basilosaurus teeth this damage also

6:48confirmed that this whale had more than

6:50enough power to easily puncture thick

6:52skulls and implied the basilosaurus

6:54killed its prey by biting and crushing

6:56their heads and then tearing their

6:58bodies apart for consumption not a

7:01pleasant picture other animals that are

7:03thought to have been common meals for

7:04the basilosaurus include a variety of

7:06primitive sirenians sea turtles tiger

7:09sharks and at least two other kinds of

7:12whales additionally a good amount of

7:14paleontologists actually think that the

7:16basilosaurus is voracious appetite

7:18cannot be contained to just aquatic

7:19animals as there is a fair chance that

7:22it occasionally hunted semi-aquatic

7:23animals too like the mor ethereum and

7:26possibly even terrestrial animals who

7:29ventured to too close to the water this

7:31notion was based on a one-of-a-kind

7:33discovery made in the most unlikely of

7:35places back in the early 1900s the

7:37Sahara Desert to be exact over 200 km or

7:42124 mi from the Mediterranean Sea

7:44researchers located numerous fossils

7:46within Egypt that were in pristine

7:48condition and quickly deduced that they

7:50belonged to

7:51basilosaurus these fossils were located

7:53inside of a Desert Valley and they also

7:55subsequently Unearthed other animals as

7:57well including more ethereum and

7:59Pelicans both of which split their time

8:02between land and water leading

8:03paleontologist to realize that the

8:05Sahara Desert had once been not just

8:07wetter but partially submerged and this

8:10has been backed by other studies which

8:11report that during the EOS scene shallow

8:14warm Waters may have covered nearly 20%

8:16of the Sahar desert and that the area

8:18where the basilosaurus was found

8:20represented a vast Mangrove environment

8:22where individuals would occasionally

8:23travel in search of food or perhaps even

8:25a mate however recent Studies have

8:28actually pushed back on this long-held

8:30belief that this area represented a

8:31mangrove forest as further analysis

8:34found what was once thought to be

8:35fossilized mangroves were actually just

8:37Burrows of some unknown animal meaning

8:40it's not certain if this ecosystem was

8:42really a type of mangrove forest or

8:44another kind of coastal environment but

8:47whatever biome it was it's clear that

8:49basilosaurus had a superior and

8:51important role in it due to the high

8:52number of fossils found and what's

8:55interesting and even a little disturbing

8:57is that this abundance was not a sign of

8:58it being a IAL creature but rather of

9:01just how efficient its design was as

9:03basilosaurus was a solitary animal that

9:05actually was quite hostile to others of

9:07its own kind one piece of evidence for

9:09its lack of socialness was its head as

9:11it lacked the adequate space needed for

9:13a spermaceti organ which is the organ

9:15responsible for echolocation and thus

9:17the lack of it heavily implies that it

9:19did not possess this ability and

9:21therefore wasn't the most social

9:22creature as whales without a spermaceti

9:24organ tend to be on the solitary side

9:27but something it did possess which made

9:29it quite unique amongst the whales were

9:31visible hind limbs in other words this

9:34whale had legs although if you were

9:37getting chased by one of these guys I

9:38highly doubt you would notice the legs

9:40as they were severely reduced in size

9:42with each one only measuring just

9:44slightly longer than a ruler but this

9:47hasn't stopped some from making the bolt

9:48claim that these legs were signed to the

9:50basil Source still some ability to go on

9:53land perhaps even using its little feet

9:55to Stage ambushes by kicking up onto

9:58land to catch any UNS expecting prey yet

10:01the vast majority of paleontologists do

10:03not support these controversial claims

10:05and believe that the hind limbs offer no

10:07locomotive purpose out of water or in

10:10and preferred the idea that if they were

10:11used for anything it was to help guide

10:13their long awkward bodies during mating

10:16and speaking of their strange elongated

10:17bodies it's believed that their shape

10:19and narrowness forced the basilosaurus

10:21to adopt a rather creepy way of getting

10:23around is unlike modern whales they

10:26didn't have a large tail fluke to rely

10:27on resulting in them swimming in an

10:29undulating fashion like an eel or snake

10:32but just on a giant scale but they did

10:34not swim from side to side but rather

10:36they moved in up and down motion kind of

10:38like how a wave travels and because they

10:40also had weak muscles in the tail area

10:42paleontologists assume the basilosaurus

10:44was not the best of sustaining fast

10:46rates of swimming and would for the most

10:48part slowly tread the waters for most of

10:50their lives only un leashing burst of

10:52surprising speed when it was ambushing

10:54prey what's more is that the morphology

10:56of its vertebrae showed that in life

10:58there were Hollow and filled with fluid

11:01which basically made the basilosaurus

11:02extremely buoyant resulting in it

11:04sticking close to the surface of the

11:06ocean at all times and preventing it

11:08from being able to perform deep Dives

11:11this was obviously good news for any

11:12deep sea dwelling creatures but for

11:14those near the surface it was just even

11:17more bad news and The Misfortune kept

11:19piling on for all as the basilosaurus

11:22was a if not the first whale to have

11:24developed ears that not only allowed it

11:27to clearly hear underwater but also to

11:29pinpoint exactly where sounds were

11:31coming from so even if it couldn't see

11:33you as long as you were making enough

11:35sound you were never truly safe from its

11:37clutches suffice to say this whale had a

11:40few things going for it that allowed it

11:41to become highly successful a fact

11:43reflected by Twi distribution that along

11:46with the western coast of the United

11:47States and Egypt included Peru Pakistan

11:51Tunisia Jordan Morocco and the Western

11:54Sahara most of these areas corresponded

11:57with shallow Coastal Waters and within

11:59within these regions basilosaurus

12:00further Niche down by sticking to ntic

12:02zones and Inland seas and because they

12:05could be found in both the Western and

12:06Eastern Hemisphere the basil Source

12:08ended up coexisting with a boatload of

12:10different animals no pun intended that

12:13consisted of the cynthus basileuterus

12:17protos siren morium paperas and many

12:22different sharks such as Gallo serto

12:26fogus Odus squattin

12:30stoia and ierus and while not meeting

12:33them on the regular its habitat was also

12:36heavily populated by fully terrestrial

12:37animals like various snakes

12:40anthra hyenadons

12:43bethereum and dassis of all these

12:46animals the basilosaurus was clearly the

12:48king thanks to its size and robust bite

12:51and this domination would last for an

12:53extreme amount of time as this whale is

12:55known to have existed for over 7 million

12:57years specifically from 41 to 33 million

13:01years ago but alas at the end of the EO

13:03scene it disappeared this Vanishing

13:06perfectly aligns with the worst

13:07Extinction event to have taken place

13:09since the demise of the non-avian

13:11Dinosaurs the eosine alosine extinction

13:14event during which the Earth saw the

13:16eradication of almost 2/3 of all

13:18mamalian species in certain parts of the

13:20world it's not 100% confirmed what

13:23triggered this catastrophic event but

13:25usually the two top contenders are

13:27glaciation event were a large impact

13:29event however what is for sure is that

13:32these whales were especially hard hit

13:34and only a handful of jera made it out

13:36alive and sadly for the basilosaurus

13:39this did not include itself in fact no

13:42basilo sord day survived the eosine and

13:44all that were left of whales were the

13:45neoset which have continued to survive

13:48until today thanks for watching and

13:50until next time on Extinct Zoo