First Record of Basilosauridae (Mammalia, Cetacea) in the Eocene of the Krasnodar Territory (Apsheron District, Gorny Luch).

This article describes two lumbar vertebrae, an isolated lumbar vertebra, and two endplates, possibly a thoracic (?) vertebra of a cetacean from the Basilosauridae family, found in 2020 and 2021 in the Upper Eocene light green clays of the Beloglinskaya Formation near the village of Gorny Luch, Apsheron District, Krasnodar Territory. In the shape and structure of the lumbar vertebrae, the whale from the Gorny Luch locality sharply differs from the typical Basilosaurinae. The new find is the first evidence of the presence of basilosaurids in the studied region, which significantly adds to our knowledge of the vertebrate fauna of Beloglinskaya age.