Artistic reconstruction of a herd of ancient sea cows (IMAGE)
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An artistic reconstruction of a herd of ancient sea cows foraging on the seafloor.
In southwest Qatar, fossils of a new species of ancient sea cow, Salwasiren qatarensis, were found in 21-million-year-old rocks along with evidence of extinct sharks, barracuda-like fish, prehistoric dolphins and sea turtles. In a paper published today in the journal PeerJ, researchers at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History worked with collaborators at Qatar Museums to name and describe the new species of sea cow.
Salwasiren was a miniature version of living dugongs. Dugongs today inhabit coastal waters from western Africa through the Indo-Pacific and into northern Australia. The Arabian Gulf is home to the largest herd of dugongs in the world, where the sea cows serve as important ecosystem engineers.
At an estimated 250 pounds, Salwasiren would have weighed as much as an adult panda or a heavyweight boxer. But it was still among the smaller sea cow species ever discovered. Some modern dugongs are nearly eight times heavier than Salwasiren.
Credit
Alex Boersma
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