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Dorudon serratus

Mammalia - Cetacea - Basilosauridae

Taxonomy
Dorudon serratus was named by Gibbes (1845). Its type specimen is MCZ 8763, a maxilla, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Mazyck Plantation, which is in a Priabonian offshore shelf sandstone in the Moncks Corner Greensand Formation of South Carolina. It is the type species of Dorudon.

It was recombined as Basilosaurus serratus by Gibbes (1847), Leidy (1854) and Gray and Adams (1859); it was synonymized subjectively with Zeuglodon brachyspondylus by Muller (1849) and Bronn (1853); it was recombined as Doryodon serratus by Cope (1868); it was recombined as Zeuglodon serratus by Trouessart (1898); it was recombined as Zeuglodon serratum by Abel (1914).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1845Dorudon serratus Gibbes p. 256 figs. Plate 1
1847Basilosaurus serratus Gibbes p. 15
1854Basilosaurus serratus Leidy p. 8
1859Basilosaurus serratus Gray and Adams p. 203
1868Doryodon serratus Cope p. 155
1869Dorudon serratus Leidy p. 428
1898Zeuglodon serratus Trouessart p. 1010
1902Dorudon serratus Hay p. 587
1904Dorudon serratus Trouessart p. 754
1908Dorudon serratus True p. 5
1914Zeuglodon serratum Abel p. 204
1930Dorudon serratus Hay p. 568
1936Dorudon serratus Kellogg p. 178
1996Dorudon serratus Uhen p. 49
1998Dorudon serratus Uhen p. 35
2002Dorudon serratus Uhen p. 79
2004Dorudon serratus Uhen pp. 13-14
2006Dorudon serratus Bouetel and Muizon p. 383
2008Dorudon serratus McLeod and Barnes p. 93
2008Dorudon serratus Uhen p. 562
2009Dorudon serratus Uhen p. 93
2011Dorudon serratus Schouten p. 18
2013Dorudon serratus Uhen p. 10 figs. Figure 7
2018Dorudon serratus Uhen

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
subclassSynapsida
Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
Mammaliamorpha
Mammaliaformes
RankNameAuthor
classMammalia
Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
Theriiformes()
Trechnotheria
Cladotheria
Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
Eutheria()
Placentalia
Boreoeutheria
Laurasiatheria
Scrotifera
Euungulata
Artiodactylamorpha
Artiodactyla()
Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
Pelagiceti
familyBasilosauridae
genusDorudon
speciesserratus

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.

Dorudon serratus Gibbes 1845
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
M. D. Uhen 2004Dorudon serratus is difficult to diagnose since there is very little material included in the type specimen and the individual that the material is from is a juvenile. It appears that the posterior upper deciduous premolars of Zygorhiza kochii have a well-developed distal cingulum that is not highly ornamented, which the upper deciduous premolars of members of the genus Dorudon lack. Differences that distinguish D. serratus from Dorudon atrox include: the presence of three vs. two mesial accessory denticles on dP2; weaker mesial and distal cingula on the upper premolars; stronger vertical rib ornamentation on the upper premolars; and a weaker lingual projection (Andrew’s “postero-internal buttress” of D. atrox) and dP3 and dP4.
M. D. Uhen 2013Dorudon serratus is difficult to diagnose because there is very little material included in the type specimen, and the type specimen is a juvenile individual. It appears that the posterior upper deciduous premolars of Zygorhiza kochii have a well-developed distal cingulum that is not highly ornamented, which the upper decid- uous premolars of members of the genus Dorudon lack. Differences that distinguish D. serratus from Dorudon atrox include: the presence of three vs. two mesial accessory denticles on dP2; weaker mesial and distal cingula on the upper premolars; stronger vertical rib ornamentation on the upper premolars; and a weaker lingual projection (Andrew’s “posterointernal buttress” of D. atrox) on dP3 and dP4 (after Uhen, 2004).