Halitherium
Halitherium
Temporal range: Late Eocene–Early Oligocene
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| Scientific classification |
| Kingdom: |
Animalia |
| Phylum: |
Chordata |
| Class: |
Mammalia |
| Order: |
Sirenia |
| Family: |
Dugongidae |
| Subfamily: |
†Halitheriinae |
| Genus: |
Halitherium
Kaup, 1838 |
| Species |
- Halitherium alleni
- Halitherium antillense
- Halitherium christolii
- Halitherium schinzii
- Halitherium taulannense
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Halitherium was an early sea cow that started in the late Eocene, then the Oligocene. Its fossils are common in European shales. Inside its flippers were finger bones that did not stick out. Halitherium also had the residues of back legs, which did not show externally. It did, however, have a basic femur, joined to a reduced pelvis. Halitherium also had elongated ribs, presumably to increase lung capacity to provide fine control of buoyancy.
References
- National Geographic Prehistoric Mammals (National Geographic) by Alan Turner
- Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology by Annalisa Berta, James L. Sumich, and Kit M. Kovacs
- The Beginning of the Age of Mammals by Kenneth D. Rose
- Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals by William F. Perrin, Bernd Wursig, and J. G.M. Thewissen
- Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates: A History of the Backboned Animals Through Time by Edwin H. Colbert, Michael Morales, and Eli C. Minkoff
- Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
- Classification of Mammals by Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell
- The Rise of Placental Mammals: Origins and Relationships of the Major Extant Clades by Kenneth D. Rose and J. David Archibald
Related species
See also