| Indosiren Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Sirenia |
| Family: | Dugongidae |
| Genus: | † Indosiren von Koenigswald, 1952 |
| Type species | |
| Indosiren javanensis von Koenigswald, 1952 | |
Indosiren is a genus of sirenian that lived in the Western part of Java during Miocene epoch. It is described as Indosiren javanense and then changed into I. javanensis. Not much is known regarding the animal overall shape and lifestyle since it is only known from a piece of tooth that was inferred as molar (M2/M3). The tooth is a small (14,6 mm x 13,5 mm x 10,6 mm) biphodont upper molar that lack development roots. It is said that the occlusal surface are similar to the tooth of Trichechus and Prototherium, while the lateral view also bears ressemblance to manatee. The original describer (Koeningswald, 1952) also mentioned that the tooth differ from other genera of similar age such as Miosiren and Metaxytherium (written as Halianassa and Felsinotherium). [1] [2]
It is worth mentioning that Koeningswald mentioned a discovery of heavy bone and tusks in marine sediment that he claimed as those of sirenian. There are also upper Eocene pachystotic rib that Koeningswald said as the oldest indication of sirenian presence in East Indies. Unfortunately, these Javan specimen are now lost or too fragmentary that it can't be studied if those come from the Indosiren. [1] Also, there are additional specimen from India that is described as Indosiren specifically I. koeningswaldi. While it is also a dugongine, Bajpai & Domning (1997) proposed that it is probably come from Bharatisiren . [3]