Protosiren

Protosiren
Temporal range:
P. smithae skull, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Sirenia
Family: †Protosirenidae
Genus: †Protosiren
Abel, 1904
Species
  • Protosiren eothene Zalmout et al., 2003
  • Protosiren fraasi (type) Abel, 1904
  • Protosiren minima (Demarest, 1822)
  • Protosiren sattaensisGingerich et al., 1995
  • Protosiren smithae Domning and Gingerich, 1994

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, North Carolina and Florida), Africa (Egypt), Europe (France, Germany and Hungary) and Asia (India and Pakistan).

So far, five species have been named. From comparative anatomy and chronological order, it has been suggested that P. fraasi, P. sattaensis and P. smithae represent an ancestor-descendant lineage. P. eothene is the oldest and smallest species.

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