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Protosirenidae
Taxonomy
Protosirenidae was named by Sickenberg (1934). It was considered paraphyletic by Domning (1994).
It was reranked as the subfamily Protosireninae by Reinhart (1959).
It was assigned to Dugongidae by Reinhart (1959); to Prorastomoidea by Heal (1973); to Sirenia by Carroll (1988), Domning (1994), Domning (1996) and Bajpai et al. (2006); to Sirenia by Berta (2017); and to Sirenia by Barnes et al. (1985), Rice (2002), Domning (2008), Rice (2009), Domning et al. (2017) and Zouhri et al. (2022).
It was reranked as the subfamily Protosireninae by Reinhart (1959).
It was assigned to Dugongidae by Reinhart (1959); to Prorastomoidea by Heal (1973); to Sirenia by Carroll (1988), Domning (1994), Domning (1996) and Bajpai et al. (2006); to Sirenia by Berta (2017); and to Sirenia by Barnes et al. (1985), Rice (2002), Domning (2008), Rice (2009), Domning et al. (2017) and Zouhri et al. (2022).
Subtaxa
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1934 | Protosirenidae Sickenberg p. 193 |
| 1959 | Protosireninae Reinhart p. 6 |
| 1973 | Protosirenidae Heal p. 19 |
| 1985 | Protosirenidae Barnes et al. p. 33 |
| 1988 | Protosirenidae Carroll |
| 1994 | Protosirenidae Domning p. 189 |
| 1996 | Protosirenidae Domning p. 378 |
| 2002 | Protosirenidae Rice p. 232 figs. Table 1 |
| 2006 | Protosirenidae Bajpai et al. p. 400 |
| 2008 | Protosirenidae Domning |
| 2009 | Protosirenidae Rice p. 235 figs. Table 1 |
| 2017 | Protosirenidae Berta p. 170 |
| 2017 | Protosirenidae Domning et al. pp. e1299158-2 |
| 2022 | Protosirenidae Zouhri et al. |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
Fm. †Protosirenidae Sickenberg 1934
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G. †Protosiren Abel 1904
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†Protosiren eothene Zalmout et al. 2003
†Protosiren fraasi Abel 1904
†Protosiren minima Desmarest 1822
†Protosiren sattaensis Gingerich et al. 1995
†Protosiren smithae Domning and Gingerich 1994
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| S. Zouhri et al. 2022 | Middle and late Eocene sirenians with the following combination of traits —(a) a smooth ventral surface of the skull roof indicating a smooth dorsal surface of the brain (falx cerebri rudimentary or absent); (b) nasals small and often separated by midline processes of the frontal bones; (c) dentary with a procumbent ascending ramus, distinctive superior angular process, accessory mental foramen posterior to the mental foramen, and accessory mandibular foramen anterior to the mandibular foramen; (d) molars relatively large with thick enamel; (e) thoracic vertebrae with large keyhole-shaped neural canals and lacking smooth synovial rib articulations; (f) ribs not expanded (not pachyostotic); (g) ribs lack synovial articulations, being connected to thoracic vertebrae by capitular and tubercular ligaments; and (h) hind limbs relatively large, including an innominate retaining a large obturator foramen, and a moderately large femur, tibia, and fibula. Traits b– g distinguish protosirenids from Eocene prorastomids and primitive dugongids, and traits a – h distinguish protosirenids from contemporary dugongids. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: f = family, c = class, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009, Domning 1978 | |||||
Age range: base of the Early/Lower Eocene to the top of the Middle Eocene or 55.80000 to 37.71000 Ma
Collections (30 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early/Lower Eocene | Pakistan (Balochistan) | Kilgai moolakharzani (214011) | |
| Lutetian | Egypt | Protosiren fraasi (58456) Protosiren smithae (140129) Protosiren sp. (96975) | |
| Lutetian | Libya | Sirenia indet. (49943) | |
| Lutetian | Germany | Protosiren fraasi (121968) | |
| Lutetian | India (Kutch) | Protosiren fraasi (45590) | |
| Lutetian | USA (Florida) | Protosiren sp. (41446) | |
| Lutetian | Jordan | Protosirenidae indet. (64351) | |
| Lutetian | Togo | Sirenia indet. (32991) | |
| Lutetian | Hungary | Protosiren fraasi (49887) | |
| Lutetian | India (Gujarat) | Sirenia indet. (88643) | |
| Lutetian | Pakistan (Balochistan) | Protosiren eothene (28981) | |
| Lutetian - Bartonian | France | Protosiren sp., Hippopotamus minimus (49935) | |
| Middle Eocene | USA (Florida) | Protosiren sp. (49883 49884) | |
| Bartonian | Pakistan (Punjab) | Protosiren sattaensis (28979) | |
| Bartonian | USA (North Carolina) | Protosiren sp. (5387 5459) | |
| Bartonian | Pakistan | Protosiren sattaensis (88341) | |
| Bartonian | USA (Florida) | Sirenia indet. (49882) | |
| Bartonian | Egypt | Protosiren sp. (140096) | |
| Bartonian | USA (South Carolina) | Protosiren sp. (99752) Protosirenidae indet. (134300) | |
| Priabonian | Egypt | Protosiren smithae (47934 140117 140126) | |
| Priabonian | Western Sahara | Dakhlasiren marocensis (96688) Protosirenidae indet. (206020) | |
| Priabonian | USA (South Carolina) | Protosiren sp. (32908) |