﻿A 
  RECENTLY 
  MOUNTED 
  ZEUGLODON 
  SKELETON 
  IN 
  THE 
  

   UNITED 
  STATES 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM. 
  

  

  By 
  James 
  W. 
  Gidley, 
  

  

  Assistant 
  Curator 
  of 
  Fossil 
  Mammals, 
  United 
  States 
  National 
  Museum. 
  

  

  The 
  American 
  zeuglodon, 
  Basilosaurus 
  cetoides 
  (Owen) 
  was 
  first 
  

   brought 
  to 
  the 
  notice 
  of 
  science 
  in 
  1834, 
  when 
  Harlan, 
  mistaking 
  a 
  

   few 
  fragments 
  from 
  the 
  Eocene 
  of 
  southeastern 
  Arkansas 
  for 
  the 
  

   remains 
  of 
  a 
  gigantic 
  reptile, 
  described 
  them 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  Basilo- 
  

   saurus 
  ^ 
  (the 
  king 
  reptile). 
  Since 
  that 
  time 
  its 
  skeletal 
  remains 
  have 
  

   been 
  found 
  in 
  comparative 
  abundance 
  at 
  various 
  localities 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  

   States 
  and 
  restorations 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  beast 
  were 
  attempted. 
  However, 
  

   it 
  was 
  not 
  until 
  the 
  two 
  partial 
  skeletons 
  collected 
  by 
  Charles 
  Schu- 
  

   chert, 
  one 
  in 
  1894 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  in 
  1896, 
  from 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Cocoa, 
  

   Alabama, 
  were 
  studied 
  and 
  described 
  by 
  F. 
  A. 
  Lucas 
  ^ 
  that 
  any 
  accu- 
  

   rate 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  size 
  and 
  proportions 
  of 
  this 
  great 
  whale-like 
  creature 
  

   was 
  obtained. 
  These 
  specimens 
  were 
  combined 
  in 
  making 
  up 
  the 
  

   present 
  skeleton, 
  which 
  constitutes 
  the 
  first 
  approximately 
  correctly 
  

   assembled 
  one 
  of 
  this 
  interesting 
  species 
  ever 
  to 
  be 
  mounted. 
  These 
  

   same 
  bones 
  had 
  been 
  partially 
  restored 
  and 
  were 
  exhibited 
  for 
  a 
  

   number 
  of 
  years 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  National 
  Museum, 
  but 
  no 
  

   attempt 
  was 
  made 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  to 
  place 
  them 
  in 
  a 
  natural 
  attitude, 
  

   farther 
  than 
  to 
  lay 
  the 
  vertebrae 
  out 
  in 
  sequence 
  along 
  a 
  shelf 
  of 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  wall 
  cases. 
  This 
  composite 
  skeleton 
  now 
  occupies 
  a 
  prominent 
  

   place 
  in 
  the 
  center 
  of 
  the 
  main 
  hall 
  devoted 
  to 
  vertebrate 
  paleontology 
  

   and 
  is 
  now 
  the 
  only 
  one 
  of 
  its 
  kind 
  on 
  exhibition 
  in 
  any 
  American 
  

   museum. 
  

  

  The 
  skeleton, 
  as 
  mounted 
  (see 
  pi. 
  81), 
  is 
  55 
  feet 
  in 
  length 
  and 
  com- 
  

   prises 
  58 
  elements 
  in 
  the 
  vertebral 
  column, 
  which 
  Lucas 
  classified 
  

   as 
  follows: 
  Cervicals, 
  7; 
  thoracics, 
  13; 
  lumbar-caudals, 
  38. 
  There 
  

   seems 
  to 
  be 
  evidence, 
  however, 
  for 
  including 
  still 
  one 
  more 
  vertebra 
  

   in 
  the 
  dorsal 
  series, 
  making 
  the 
  number 
  14 
  instead 
  of 
  13 
  for 
  this 
  region 
  

   and 
  correspondingly 
  decreasing 
  the 
  lumbar 
  series 
  by 
  one. 
  Although 
  

  

  » 
  This 
  name, 
  as 
  noted 
  by 
  Lucas, 
  antedates 
  the 
  more' 
  appropriate 
  and 
  better-lmown 
  name, 
  Zeuglodon, 
  

   given 
  bj' 
  Owen. 
  Hence 
  Zeuglodon 
  is 
  here 
  employed 
  in 
  the 
  sense 
  in 
  which 
  whale 
  or 
  elephant 
  is 
  used, 
  as 
  a 
  

   popular 
  name 
  for 
  the 
  group. 
  

  

  2 
  Amer. 
  Naturalist, 
  Aug., 
  1885, 
  pp. 
  745-746; 
  Proc. 
  U. 
  S. 
  Nat. 
  Mus., 
  vol. 
  23, 
  1900, 
  pp. 
  327-331. 
  

  

  Proceedings 
  U. 
  S. 
  National 
  Museum, 
  Vol. 
  44— 
  No. 
  1975. 
  

  

  