Basilosaurus

Weight: 60 tons

Height: Around 7 ft

Length: Around 60 ft

Social Unit: Pod

Native to: Aztlan (Naturalized on Aurea and several other planets after the Tatian War)

The Basilosaurus is a massive serpent-shaped toothed whale native to the massive Lake Coxcote on the planet Aztlan. Rare and elusive in the wild, they often lurk in the depths of the lake, preying on any sharks, Xiphactinus, ichthyosaurs, or any other decent-sized creatures that venture too close to the lake's murky bottom. However, Basilosaurus tend to be confined to the southern and western parts of the lake, as more dangerous apex predators such as Mosasaurus, Dunkleosteus, and Deinosuchus proliferate elsewhere. Although Basilosaurus spend most of their time in the dark depths of Lake Coxcote, they, like all mammals and reptiles in the lake, must return to the surface every few hours to breathe, in a process known as breaching. Like Mosasaurs, Basilosaurus will often eat any unsuspecting seabirds that may be swimming on the water's surface where they breach.

Like most other whales, Basilosaurus are highly intelligent and will form pods of anywhere from 5 to 30 whales. To avoid inbreeding, male Basilosaurus usually mate with females from other pods. After a 2-year pregnancy, a female gives birth to a single offspring. Basilosaurus offspring usually mature after 20 years or so.

In order to keep warm in the cold and dark waters of the bottom of Lake Coxcote, Basilosaurus have a massively thick layer of blubber under their skin. Due to the chemical composition of this blubber, a very odd oil can be produced by "flensing" (removing the blubber and boiling it) a dead Basilosaurus. Basilosaur oil, due to its bizarre chemical composition, has the highest specific heat of any known liquid in the galaxy and is regarded as the most valuable starship coolant in the entire galaxy.

As a result, in the year 62 BR, Ishgabangaloodoo began setting up its own private whaling companies on Lake Coxcote's shores to exploit the beasts. With their vastly superior technology, the Ishgas rapidly outcompeted the traditional small-scale whaling that the Aztlanians were doing for centuries, and Basilosaurus numbers began to dwindle rapidly. As a result, Cuahtemoc II, the Aztlanian Emperor, got angry and arrested the CEOs of all of the Ishga whaling companies, promising to release them only when the Ishgas agreed to leave the planet. In response, the Ishga Government declared war on Aztlan and easily defeated the Aztlanians at the Battle of Chalco. Realizing he was doomed, Cuahtemoc II sued for peace. The Treaty of Tepexpan that followed forced Aztlan to cede the cities of Teayo, Huexotla, Tepexpan, Tula, and Chalco on Lake Coxcote's southwest coast to growing Ishga Colonial Empire.

After the cession of these cities, the Ishgas ramped up their whaling activities dramatically, and before long the Basilosaurus was on the verge of extinction. Since these Aztlanian colonies were then no longer profitable since Basilosaurus were basically impossible to find, the Ishga Government sold back these colonies to Cuahtemoc II at exorbitant prices that essentially bankrupted Aztlan. However, Cuahtemoc II was a cunning emperor who had a plan to rebuild his economy. He used what money his treasury had left to track down and capture what remained of the Basilosaurus population, and formed several stud farms on Lake Coxcote's west coast, near the exact same cities that Aztlan had just bought back from the Ishga Government.

These stud farms, although Basilosaurus reproduced too slow for any benefits to be reaped during Cuahtemoc II's reign, eventually produced enough whales for Aztlan to sustainably obtain a profitable supply of Basilosaur oil, much to the annoyance of the Ishga Government. The Ishga Government, this time in the year 9 BR, declared war on Aztlan again and sent another military expedition to the planet in an attempt to secure the whale farms. However, Cuahtemoc II knew that the Ishgas were coming and set a trap fro them at Tzintzuntzen. While equipped with vastly superior technology the Ishgas were completely unprepared for the full might of Aztlan's Army coming down from the mountains near Tzintzuntzen, the Aztlanians prevailed. The Ishgas, having lost half their men to the ambush, decided to return home. After this victory, the Aztlanian Emperor Pacal VI secured a trade deal with the Ishgas that allowed Aztlan to sell Basilosaur oil to the Ishga Empire for exorbitant prices.

It was only a few short years later, however, that the asteroid Xibalba would slam into Aztlan and nearly wipe out all civilization on the planet. Although the Basilosaurus population on Aztlan was reduced to about 5 individuals by this, most of the Basilosaurus from the stud farms were taken off-planet immediately preceding the disaster to save both the oil industry and the species. During the Tatian War that would take place from 2 AR - 21 AR, Basilosaurus populations were established on many planets, including Aurea, Atlantea, Caput Tatiium, Planet Squid, and others in order to fulfill the coolant needs of both sides of the war. In addition, the New Aztlanian Government, as part of the Xibalba Recovery Plan, had a few dozen Basilosaurus returned to Lake Coxcote to kickstart the local recovery effort. In the final stages of the war, Ishga Scientists figured out how to produce a cheaper and more efficient synthetic version of Basilosaur oil, and hunting of the species practically ceased. As a result, feral populations of Basilosaurus have taken shape where the species was introduced during the war, and is considered an invasive species pretty much everywhere it ended up.