Protosiren Temporal range: [1]
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Drawing of skeleton | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Sirenia |
Family: | † Protosirenidae |
Genus: | †
Protosiren Abel, 1904 |
Species | |
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Protosiren is an extinct early genus of the order Sirenia. Protosiren existed throughout the Lutetian to Priabonian stages of the Middle Eocene. Fossils have been found in the far-flung locations like the United States ( South Carolina, [2] North Carolina and Florida [3]), Africa ( Egypt), Europe ( France, Germany[ citation needed] and Hungary) and Asia ( India and Pakistan).
So far, five species have been named. From comparative anatomy and chronological order, [4] [5] it has been suggested that P. fraasi, P. sattaensis and P. smithae represent an ancestor-descendant lineage. [5] P. eothene is the oldest and smallest species. [6]
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 only or primarily aquatic, rarely venturing on to land. [7] [8] It has been speculated that it swam by caudal undulation and used its hind limbs to crawl along sea floors in nearshore habitats while feeding. It might have occupied a different ecological niche than the contemporary Eotheroides, which had a closer resemblance to modern sirenians. [7]
Protosiren Temporal range: [1]
| |
---|---|
Drawing of skeleton | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Sirenia |
Family: | † Protosirenidae |
Genus: | †
Protosiren Abel, 1904 |
Species | |
|
Protosiren is an extinct early genus of the order Sirenia. Protosiren existed throughout the Lutetian to Priabonian stages of the Middle Eocene. Fossils have been found in the far-flung locations like the United States ( South Carolina, [2] North Carolina and Florida [3]), Africa ( Egypt), Europe ( France, Germany[ citation needed] and Hungary) and Asia ( India and Pakistan).
So far, five species have been named. From comparative anatomy and chronological order, [4] [5] it has been suggested that P. fraasi, P. sattaensis and P. smithae represent an ancestor-descendant lineage. [5] P. eothene is the oldest and smallest species. [6]
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 only or primarily aquatic, rarely venturing on to land. [7] [8] It has been speculated that it swam by caudal undulation and used its hind limbs to crawl along sea floors in nearshore habitats while feeding. It might have occupied a different ecological niche than the contemporary Eotheroides, which had a closer resemblance to modern sirenians. [7]