Zygorhiza

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Zygorhiza
Fossil range: Late Eocene

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetacea
Suborder: Archaeoceti
Family: Basilosauridae
Genus: Zygorhiza
True, 1908
Species: Z. kochii
Binomial name
Zygorhiza kochii
Kellogg, 1936

Zygorhiza kochii ("Koch's Yoke-Root") is an extinct species of cetacean.

Zygorhiza was related to the famous Basilosaurus, but was smaller and less elongated. It was about 6 m (20 ft) long. Zygorhiza had flippers which could, unlike in modern cetaceans, be moved at the elbow. Its hind limbs were rudimentary. Zygorhiza's one-metre (3-foot) skull had fearsome jaws with deadly teeth. Unlike modern cetaceans, Zygorhiza had a neck consisting of seven vertebrae.

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