Dugongidae

Dugongidae [1] Temporal range: Late Eocene-Holocene
A dugong in Marsa Alam
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Sirenia
Family:	Dugongidae Gray, 1821
Genera
Dugong † Hydrodamalis And see text

Dugongidae is a family in the order of Sirenia. The family has one surviving species, the dugong (Dugong dugon), one recently extinct species, Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), and a number of extinct genera known from fossil records.

Dugong skeleton displayed at Philippine National Museum

Taxonomy

• Family Dugongidae
  • Genus † Anisosiren
  • Genus † Caribosiren
  • Genus † Indosiren
  • Genus † Lentiarenium
  • Genus † Kaupitherium ^[2]
  • Genus † Paralitherium
  • Genus † Priscosiren ^[3]
  • Genus † Prohalicore
  • Genus † Sirenavus
  • Subfamily †Halitheriinae
    • Genus † Halitherium (nomen dubium)
  • Subfamily Dugonginae
    • Genus † Bharatisiren
    • Genus † Callistosiren ^[4]
    • Genus † Crenatosiren
    • Genus † Corystosiren
    • Genus † Culebratherium
    • Genus † Dioplotherium
    • Genus † Domningia
    • Genus Dugong
      • Species Dugong dugon , dugong
    • Genus † Italosiren ^[5]
    • Genus † Kutchisiren
    • Genus † Nanosiren
    • Genus † Norosiren
    • Genus † Rytiodus
    • Genus † Salwasiren ^[6]
    • Genus † Xenosiren
  • Subfamily †Metaxytheriinae
    • Genus † Metaxytherium
  • Subfamily †Hydrodamalinae
    • Genus † Dusisiren
    • Genus † Hydrodamalis
      • Species † Hydrodamalis cuestae
      • Species † Hydrodamalis spissa ^[7]
      • Species † Hydrodamalis gigas , Steller's sea cow

The genera Eosiren , Eotheroides , and Prototherium have been assigned to Halitheriinae in the past, but recent cladistic analysis recovers these genera as basal to the clade formed by Trichechidae and Dugongidae. Moreover, Halitheriinae is paraphyletic with respect to Dugonginae and Hydrodamalinae, and further use of the name should be discontinued because the type genus is based on a non-diagnostic tooth. ^[8]

Phylogeny

Afrotheria	Afroinsectiphilia Tubulidentata Orycteropodidae Afroinsectivora Macroscelidea Macroscelididae Afrosoricida Chrysochloridae Tenrecidae Paenungulata Hyracoidea Procaviidae Tethytheria Proboscidea Elephantidae Sirenia Dugongidae Trichechidae

References

1. Shoshani, J. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
2. Manja Voss & Oliver Hampe (2017). "Evidence for two sympatric sirenian species (Mammalia, Tethytheria) in the early Oligocene of Central Europe". Journal of Paleontology. in press. doi : 10.1017/jpa.2016.147.
3. Vélez-Juarbe, Jorge; Domning, Daryl P. (2014). "Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean region. X. Priscosiren atlantica, sp. nov". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (4): 951. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.815192. S2CID   85297028.
4. Vélez-Juarbe, Jorge; Domning, Daryl P. (2015). "Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean region. XI. Callistosiren boriquensis, gen. et sp. nov". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35 (1) e885034. Bibcode:2015JVPal..35E5034V. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.885034. S2CID   84600341.
5. Manja Voss; Silvia Sorbi; Daryl P. Domning (2017). "Morphological and systematic re-assessment of the late Oligocene "Halitherium" bellunense reveals a new crown group genus of Sirenia". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 62 (1): 163–172. doi : 10.4202/app.00287.2016.
6. Pyenson, N. D.; Sakal, F.; LeBlanc, J.; Blundell, J.; Klim, K. D.; Marshall, C. D.; Velez-Juarbe, J.; Wolfe, K.; Al-Naimi, F. (2025). "High abundance of Early Miocene sea cows from Qatar shows repeated evolution of seagrass ecosystem engineers in Eastern Tethys". PeerJ. 13 e20030. doi: 10.7717/peerj.20030 .
7. Furusawa, Hitoshi (1988). A new species of hydrodamaline Sirenia from Hokkaido, Japan. Takikawa Museum of Art and Natural History. pp. 1–73.
8. Voss, Manja (2014). "On the invalidity of Halitherium schinzii Kaup, 1838 (Mammalia, Sirenia), with comments on systematic consequences". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 90: 87–93. doi: 10.3897/zse.90.7421 .