Lake Zeuglodonts

Ranging across the sub-arctic. Native to the innumerable unexplored glacial lakes of Alaska, Canada, the Pacific Northwest, and Great Lakes Region. Also found across the Russian Far East, Siberia and a few species in Scandinavia. The Lake Zeuglodonts (Palustrocetinae; Palustrocetus hyperboreus Complex) are a species complex of Freshwater Basilosaurid Whales containing a staggering 1,500 species.

Along with the Protocetid Bear Lake Monster, they are the last of the 'Primitive Whales' to naturally exist.

Biology

They are among the smallest cetaceans, the average species being only 5 feet in length. Only barely beating out the next smallest cetacean, The Vaquita, by 0.1 feet in length. Though the Nokomis Fluke-eel, (endemic to Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, MN) is only 6 inches in length, easily making it the smallest Cetacean to ever exist.

Ecology

Each species of Lake Zeuglodont is native to one or two Freshwater Lakes that began to form at the end of the Last Glacial Period around 14,000 years ago, as retreating ice sheets exposed the basins they had carved into the land, which then filled with meltwater. A series of meltwater floods allowed a handful of or a single species of ancestral lake whale to migrate to hundreds of lakes, where they were then isolated and began to evolve into new species.

Lake Zeuglodonts are often the apex predator of their water body, though they usually share this position alongside members of the other Glacial Lake species Complexes such as Lake Ammondosaurs, Lake Dragons (Strataverse), Lake Ichthyosaurs, Lake Mosasaurs, Lake Serpents, Lake Plesiosaurs, Variable Lake Monsters. Some smaller species are known to be preyed upon by Northern Pike, Muskellunge and Raptors such as Bald Eagles and Osprey

Notable Species

Baikal Sea Wolf
Big Root Cave Blind Zeuglodon
Caspian Fluke-Eel
Caspian Sea Tiger
Caspian Sea Wolf
Kabetogama Lake Fluke-Eel
Kabetogama Lake Water Wolf
Lake Brenden Eel-Whale
Lake Constance Fluke-Eel
Lake Maybelle Eel-Whale
Lake Neuchâtel Fluke-Eel
Lake Neuchâtel Water Wolf
Lake Norman Eel-Whale
Lake Superior Dragon Whale
Lake Superior Singing Whale
Lake Superior Tiger Whale
Lake Superior Water Wolf
Loiten Lake Zeuglodont
Maashkinoozhe Lake Eel-Whale
Mille Lacs Water Wolf
Nokomis Fluke-Eel - Smallest Cetacean on Earth, endemic to Lake Nokomis
Oslo Lake Zeuglodont
Quill Lake Zeuglodont
Rainy Lake Bottlenose Whale
Rainy Lake Leopard Whale
Rainy Lake Macrocephalid Whale
Rainy Lake Squealer
Shoepack Lake Zeuglodont
Volga River Zeuglodont
War Club Lake Zeuglodont

Conservation

TBA