Basilosauridae
| Basilosauridae Temporal range: Lutetian to Priabonian | |
|---|---|
| Saghacetus skull. Arrow highlights the nasal openings halfway up the snout, an evolutionary step towards the telescoped condition in modern whales. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Suborder: | Whippomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Basilosauridae Cope 1868 |
| Genera | |
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See text | |
Basilosauridae is a family of extinct cetaceans that lived during the middle to late Eocene. Basilosaurids are known from all continents including Antarctica, and are probably the first fully aquatic cetaceans. The group is noted to be a paraphyletic assemblage of stem group whales from which the monophyletic Neoceti are derived.