''Kaupitherium'' is an extinct dugongid

sea cow The Sirenia (), commonly referred to as sea-cows or sirenians, are an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal marine waters. The Sirenia currently comprise two distinct f ...

that lived during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Alzey Formation of Germany. Inside its flippers were finger bones that did not stick out. ''Kaupitherium'' also had the residues of back legs, which did not show externally. However, it did have a basic

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...

, joined to a reduced pelvis. ''Kaupitherium'' also had elongated

ribs The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels. The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...

, presumably to increase

lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...

capacity to provide fine control of

buoyancy Buoyancy (), or upthrust, is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of a partially or fully immersed object. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus the p ...

Taxonomy

"Halitheriine" dugongid remains from Oligocene deposits in Europe were previously referred to '' Halitherium schinzii'' by many authors. However, Voss (2013, 2014) dismissed ''Halitherium'' as a ''nomen dubium'' by virtue of being based on non-diagnostic remains. Voss based the opinion on the type species, ''H. schinzii'', being ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium'' it may be impossible to determine whether a s ...

'', with its

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

fossil, an isolated molar, having no diagnostic value.Voss, Manja. "On the invalidity of Halitherium schinzii Kaup, 1838 (Mammalia, Sirenia), with comments on systematic consequences." Zoosystematics and Evolution 90 (2014): 87

/ref> and a 2017 study found specimens traditionally assigned to ''Halitherium schinzii'' to be two separate species, one of which takes the name ''Halitherium bronni'' Krauss, 1858. Because ''Halitherium'' is dubious, the dugongid remains traditionally known as ''Halitherium'' were given the new genus ''Kaupitherium''.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.

Related species

* ''

Metaxytherium ''Metaxytherium'' is an extinct genus of dugong that lived from the Oligocene until the end of the Pliocene. Fossil remains have been found in Africa, Europe, North America and South America. Generally marine seagrass specialists, they inhabite ...

'' * '' Rytiodus''

References

Bibliography

* Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology by

Annalisa Berta Annalisa Berta (born 23 July 1952) is an American paleontologist and professor emerita in the Department of Biology at San Diego State University. The focus of her research is the evolution and fossil history of whales and other marine mammals, ...

, James L. Sumich, and Kit M. Kovacs * The Beginning of the Age of Mammals by Kenneth D. Rose * Classification of Mammals by Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell Oligocene sirenians Rupelian life Oligocene mammals of Europe Paleogene Germany Fossils of Germany Fossil taxa described in 2017 Prehistoric placental genera {{Paleo-sirenian-stub

Taxonomy

Related species

See also

References

Bibliography