Definition of basilosaurus in English:
basilosaurus
nounˌbasɪlə(ʊ)ˈsɔːrəsˌbasələˈsôrəs
A large marine cetacean of the Eocene epoch, having rudimentary fore and hind limbs.
Genus Basilosaurus, suborder Archaeoceti, order Cetacea
Example sentencesExamples
- One of these was pictured in the exhibition - the Basilosaurus.
- In Basilosaurus, nearly all of these structures lay within the body wall, and most parts were immobile.
- Then they found tiny legs on a 50-foot long, 40-million year old whale named Basilosaurus.
- The first of the truly gigantic whales, Basilosaurus had the serpentine shape of a sea monster and short, sharp teeth for hunting sharks and other prey.
- Although Basilosaurus possessed a fluke and peduncle, Buchholtz dismisses these features because they are too short relative to body length.
Origin
Modern Latin, from Greek basileus 'king' + sauros 'lizard'.