Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene.
Apex predators live at the top of an ecological pyramid, preying on animals in the pyramid below and normally immune from predation themselves. Apex predators are often, but not always, the largest animals of their kind. The living killer whale Orcinus orca is an apex predator in modern world oceans...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:21d13604dbfe414e828e1bf8cd6e883b 2023-05-15T17:03:35+02:00 Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene. Manja Voss Mohammed Sameh M Antar Iyad S Zalmout Philip D Gingerich 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209021 https://doaj.org/article/21d13604dbfe414e828e1bf8cd6e883b EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209021 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209021 https://doaj.org/article/21d13604dbfe414e828e1bf8cd6e883b PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 1, p e0209021 (2019) Medicine R Science Q article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209021 2022-12-31T11:17:27Z Apex predators live at the top of an ecological pyramid, preying on animals in the pyramid below and normally immune from predation themselves. Apex predators are often, but not always, the largest animals of their kind. The living killer whale Orcinus orca is an apex predator in modern world oceans. Here we focus on an earlier apex predator, the late Eocene archaeocete Basilosaurus isis from Wadi Al Hitan in Egypt, and show from stomach contents that it fed on smaller whales (juvenile Dorudon atrox) and large fishes (Pycnodus mokattamensis). Our observations, the first direct evidence of diet in Basilosaurus isis, confirm a predator-prey relationship of the two most frequently found fossil whales in Wadi Al-Hitan, B. isis and D. atrox. This extends our understanding of their paleoecology. Late Eocene Basilosaurus isis, late Miocene Livyatan melvillei, and modern Orcinus orca are three marine apex predators known from relatively short intervals of time. Little is known about whales as apex predators through much of the Cenozoic era, and whales as apex predators deserve more attention than they have received. Article in Journal/Newspaper Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pyramid ENVELOPE(157.300,157.300,-81.333,-81.333) The Pyramid ENVELOPE(-60.100,-60.100,-62.433,-62.433) PLOS ONE 14 1 e0209021 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Manja Voss Mohammed Sameh M Antar Iyad S Zalmout Philip D Gingerich Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Apex predators live at the top of an ecological pyramid, preying on animals in the pyramid below and normally immune from predation themselves. Apex predators are often, but not always, the largest animals of their kind. The living killer whale Orcinus orca is an apex predator in modern world oceans. Here we focus on an earlier apex predator, the late Eocene archaeocete Basilosaurus isis from Wadi Al Hitan in Egypt, and show from stomach contents that it fed on smaller whales (juvenile Dorudon atrox) and large fishes (Pycnodus mokattamensis). Our observations, the first direct evidence of diet in Basilosaurus isis, confirm a predator-prey relationship of the two most frequently found fossil whales in Wadi Al-Hitan, B. isis and D. atrox. This extends our understanding of their paleoecology. Late Eocene Basilosaurus isis, late Miocene Livyatan melvillei, and modern Orcinus orca are three marine apex predators known from relatively short intervals of time. Little is known about whales as apex predators through much of the Cenozoic era, and whales as apex predators deserve more attention than they have received. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Manja Voss Mohammed Sameh M Antar Iyad S Zalmout Philip D Gingerich |
author_facet |
Manja Voss Mohammed Sameh M Antar Iyad S Zalmout Philip D Gingerich |
author_sort |
Manja Voss |
title |
Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene. |
title_short |
Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene. |
title_full |
Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene. |
title_fullStr |
Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene. |
title_sort |
stomach contents of the archaeocete basilosaurus isis: apex predator in oceans of the late eocene. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209021 https://doaj.org/article/21d13604dbfe414e828e1bf8cd6e883b |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(157.300,157.300,-81.333,-81.333) ENVELOPE(-60.100,-60.100,-62.433,-62.433) |
geographic |
Pyramid The Pyramid |
geographic_facet |
Pyramid The Pyramid |
genre |
Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 1, p e0209021 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209021 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209021 https://doaj.org/article/21d13604dbfe414e828e1bf8cd6e883b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209021 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
14 |
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1 |
container_start_page |
e0209021 |
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1766057492330053632 |