ZEUGLODON, r8'gl6-d6n, a gigantic fos sil cetacean mammal, found in the Eocene and Miocene strata of the southern United States and Europe, so named by Owen from the yoke like character displayed by a section of the molar teeth. Its remains were first discovered in 1R34 in the Tertiary of Louisiana, and were supposed to belong to come reptile, to which I)r. Harlan gave the name of Basilosasorws, but Owen showed that it was a mammal, and be longed among cetaceans. A few years later a German collector named Koch collected great quantities of the bones and stringing them to gether in some semblance of a natural skeleton, constructed a *sea-serpent,' mostly neck and tail, no less than 114 feet long, which was ex hibited widely in America and Europe, and required the exertions of eminent men (for ex ample, Wyman, (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist.,' November 1845) to expose as a humbug. The form was probably cetacean, though slender, elongated and more snake-like, with small an terior limbs in the shape of paddles, and no hind limbs; the length about 70 feet; the skin was supplied with an armor consisting of small irregular bony plates more or less fused to gether. The skull in some specimens was
nearly a yard in length. It is well constructed, the blow-hole in the middle of the face, and the brain-cavity. The teeth are limited in num ber and disposed in three series as incisors, canines and molars; the molars are double rooted, and have serrated crowns. Much dis cussion has occurred as to the affinities of this great sea-beast, whose characters are so gen eralized, and period of existence so early that it is now agreed to be a representative of the most primitive Cttacea, and is set apart as a family, Zeuglecloatider constituting a primitive order Arekeeocati. Consult Woodward, Verte brate PalieontoloW (New York 1898); Zittel Eastman, of Palsonotology' (Part III); Lucas, F. A., 'Animals in the Past' (1901). and 'The Pelvic Girdle of the Zeuglo don' (1901).