Dusisiren jordani (Kellogg, 1925)
Mammalia
Sirenia
Dugongidae
Hydrodamalinae
Late Miocene
Monterey Fm (Tortonian)
California, US
Length: 4 m
There are only 4 species of Sirenians alive today, but the group was more widespread in the past. The herbivorous and fully aquatic Dusisiren was a bit larger relative of the modern dugong and lived around the Pacific Ocean during the Miocene and Pliocene periods. Several species have been described with D. jordani from the Late Miocene of California one of the best known. Dusisiren is believed to be ancestral to the Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), the largest of all Sirenians, that went extinct in 1768.
March 25, 2017
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