Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 134, February 2016, pp. 1-44. | Page 22

22

Zygorhiza, but also differ from both these genera in dental and/or cranial
morphology. The limited known material for D. serratus makes it difficult to
compare the two species of Dorudon. Uhen (2004) placed D. atrox in the same
genus as D. serratus because of similarities in size and morphology, but kept
them as separate species because of differences in dental morphology. Eventhough D. serratus is the type species, the description of Dorudon is largely based
on Dorudon atrox because of its completeness. The cranial morphology of D. atrox
makes it distinct from all other archaeocetes (Wikipedia).

Studying a Dorudon atrox Whale Fossil at Wadi El-Hitan (Whales Valley), Al-Fayyum,
Al-Sahraa Al-Gharbiah (Western Desert), Egypt. Photo: Ola Mostafa Khalaf. 11.07.2012.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15292450010/

Description :
Dorudontines were originally believed to be juvenile individuals of Basilosaurus
as their fossils are similar but smaller. They have since been shown to be a
different genus with the discovery of Dorudon juveniles. Although they look very
much like modern whales, basilosaurines and dorudontines lacked the 'melon
organ' that allows their descendants to use echolocation as effectively as modern
whales. Like other basilosaurids, their nostrils were midway from the snout to
the top of the head. The Dorudon calves may have fallen prey to hungry
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 134 – February 2016