Protosiren

Protosiren
Temporal range: Middle Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Sirenia
Family: †Protosirenidae
Genus: †Protosiren
Abel, 1904
Species
  • P. eothene
    Zalmout et al., 2003
  • P. fraasi (type)
    Abel, 1904
  • P. minima
    (Demarest, 1822)
  • P. sattaensis
    Gingerich et al., 1995
  • P. smithae
    Domning and Gingerich, 1994

Protosiren is an extinct early genus of the order Sirenia. Protosiren existed throughout the Lutetian and Bartonian stages of the Middle Eocene.

Geography

Fossils have been found in the far-flung locations like the United States (North Carolina), Egypt, France, Hungary, India, and Pakistan.

Ecology

Like the extant sirenians (manatee and dugong), Protosiren is thought to have fed on sea grasses as well as freshwater plants. Unlike extant sirenians, Protosiren had hind limbs. Although the limbs were well-developed, they were small and the sacroiliac joint was weak. Consequently, Protosiren is thought to have been mainly aquatic, rarely venturing on to land.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Berta, Annalisa, 2017. Rise of Marine Mammals: 50 Million Years of Evolution. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Domning, D. P.; Morgan, G. S.; Ray, C. E. (1982). North American Eocene sea cows (Mammalia: Sirenia). Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology Number 52. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.


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