Is Basilosaurus cetoides the state fossil of Alabama?

Illustration by: Harrison Prince · In 1834 a complete skeleton of a basilosaur (king of the lizards) was found on a plantation in southwestern Alabama. Staff of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences studied the skeleton and said it was not a lizard, but a meat-eating member of the whale ...

Basilosaurus cetoides is the official state fossil of Alabama. In life, this species was a large serpentine sea creature that lived at the end of the Eocene epoch of the Cenozoic, approximately 34 to 35 million years ago. Basilosaurus was first thought to be a reptile but was later identified ...

Perhaps the most impressive specimen in the museum is a 60 ft (18 m) skeleton of an ancient toothed whale called Basilosaurus cetoides. This species serves as the state fossil of Alabama since 1984.

Code of Alabama. Designation of Basilosaurus cetoides as the State Fossil of Alabama, Alabama State Legislature, 1984. Gingerich, P. D., B. H. Smith, and E. L. Simons. "Hind Limbs of Eocene Basilosaurus isis: Evidence of Feet in Whales." Science 249 (1990): 154-57.

Basilosaurus cetoides was an Eocene whale that lived in the waters of what would become the Gulf of Mexico about 35 million years ago. It is the state fossil of Alabama.

Alabama designated Basilosaurus cetoides (Zeuglodon) as the official state fossil in 1984. Fossil remains of this prehistoric whale were first found in Clarke County about 1833 and later discovered in Choctaw and Washington Counties.

A complete Basilosaurus skeleton was found in 2015, and several attempts have been made to reconstruct the vertebral column from partial skeletons. Kellogg 1936 estimated a total of 58 vertebrae, based on two partial and nonoverlapping skeletons of B. cetoides from Alabama. More complete fossils ...

Major fossil discoveries in the state's history include the 1842 discovery of the early whale Basilosaurus, and a later 1961 discovery of more remains from the same species. The Eocene whale Basilosaurus cetoides is the Alabama state fossil.

No fossil "Species Basilosaurus Cetoides" shall be removed from the State of Alabama, in whole or in part, except by prior written approval of the Governor. (Acts 1984, No.