PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Saghacetus

Mammalia - Cetacea - Basilosauridae

Taxonomy

Saghacetus was named by Gingerich (1992) [Sepkoski's age data: T Eo-u Sepkoski's reference number: 1009]. Its type is Saghacetus osiris.

It was assigned to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Dorudontinae by Gingerich (1992), McKenna and Bell (1997), Uhen (1998), Uhen (2002), van Vliet (2004), Uhen (2004), McLeod and Barnes (2008), Uhen (2009), Schouten (2011) and Gao and Ni (2015); and to Basilosauridae by Martinez-Cáceres and Muizon (2011), Uhen (2013), Marx et al. (2016), Martínez-Cáceres et al. (2017), Berta (2017) and Uhen (2018).

Species

S. osiris (syn. Dorudon zitteli, Dorudon elliotsmithii, Dorudon sensitivus) (type species)

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1992	Saghacetus Gingerich p. 73 figs. Table 1
1997	Saghacetus McKenna and Bell p. 369
1998	Saghacetus Uhen p. 39
2002	Saghacetus Sepkoski
2002	Saghacetus Uhen p. 79
2004	Saghacetus Uhen p. 12
2004	Saghacetus van Vliet p. 143
2008	Saghacetus McLeod and Barnes p. 93
2009	Saghacetus Uhen p. 93
2011	Saghacetus Martinez-Cáceres and Muizon
2011	Saghacetus Schouten p. 18
2013	Saghacetus Uhen p. 4 figs. Figure 9
2015	Saghacetus Gao and Ni p. 156 figs. Table 1
2016	Saghacetus Marx et al. p. 101
2017	Saghacetus Berta p. 159
2017	Saghacetus Martínez-Cáceres et al. p. 11
2018	Saghacetus Uhen

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes

Rank	Name	Author
class	Mammalia
—	Theriamorpha	(Rowe 1993)
—	Theriiformes	()
—	Trechnotheria
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Euungulata
—	Artiodactylamorpha
—	Artiodactyla	()
—	Whippomorpha
order	Cetacea
—	Pelagiceti
family	Basilosauridae
genus	Saghacetus

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Saghacetus Gingerich 1992

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†Saghacetus osiris Dames 1894

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Invalid names: Dorudon elliotsmithii Dart 1923 [synonym], Dorudon sensitivus Dart 1923 [synonym], Dorudon zitteli Stromer 1903 [synonym]

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
P. D. Gingerich 1992	Saghacetus differs from Dorudon and all other archaeocetes in having thoracic vertebrae normally proportioned but posterior lumbars and anterior caudals distinctly long in comparison to centrum height and breadth.

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteo

Form:

roller-shapedo

Ontogeny:

modification of partso

Environment:

marineo

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

aquatico

Depth habitat:

surfaceo

Diet:

carnivoreo

Reproduction:

viviparouso

Created:

2005-03-06 14:19:05

Modified:

2017-04-17 10:41:18

Source: o = order

Reference: Uhen 2004

Age range: Late/Upper Eocene or 37.20000 to 33.90000 Ma

Collections (9 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Bartonian - Priabonian	41.3 - 33.9	Germany	Dorudon osiris (46086)
Priabonian	38.0 - 33.9	Egypt (Fayum)	S. osiris (74737 74740)
Priabonian	38.0 - 33.9	Egypt	S. osiris (49919) Zeuglodon osiris (47947 79700) Zeuglodon zitteli (79698)
Priabonian	38.0 - 33.9	Western Sahara	S. sp. (159113)
Late/Upper Eocene	37.2 - 33.9	Egypt	Zeuglodon sensitivus, Dorudon osiris (62468)