Alabama: Basilosaurus (state fossil)

Alabama's official state fossil is the fossil whale Basilosaurus cetoides, which lived in the extension of the Gulf of Mexico which covered southern Alabama during the Eocene Epoch, about 45 million years ago.

Whales evolved from land-dwelling mammals, which required a host of adaptations, including the transformation of limbs into flippers, retraction of the nostrils and the ability to close them underwater, streamlining of the body shape for swimming efficiency, and many others. Basilosaurus was definitely a whale, but resembled its ancestors more than modern whales in such features as shape of the teeth. It was a large creature, shaped a bit like a "sea serpent," around 75 feet in length.

Basilosaurus and other primitive whales gave rise to the two groups of cetaceans living today, the toothed whales (dolphins, orcas, sperm whales) and the baleen whales (grey whales and most others). The small rear limbs which Basilosaurus retained have been almost or entirely lost in modern whales.

The first Basilosaurus fossils were discovered in 1832 in the bluffs along the Ouachita River. Many discoveries followed in the next century and a half. Because of this abundance, Basilosaurus was designated the state fossil of Alabama in 1984 with the passage of Act No. 84-66.

For further information:

Alabama symbols

Primitive Eocene Whales