# Protosirenidae

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protosirenidae
> Source revision: 1353071307
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{{Short description|Extinct family of aquatic mammals}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Middle Eocene|Late Eocene}}
| image = Protosiren_remains.png
| image_caption = The skeleton of ''[Protosiren](/source/Protosiren)''
| taxon = Protosirenidae
| authority = Sickenberg, 1934
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = *''[Ashokia](/source/Ashokia)''
*''[Dakhlasiren](/source/Dakhlasiren)''<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zouhri |first1=S. |last2=Zalmout |first2=I. S. |last3=Gingerich |first3=P. D. |year=2022 |title=New protosirenid (Mammalia, Sirenia) in the late Eocene sea cow assemblage of southwestern Morocco |journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences |volume=189 |article-number=104516 |doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2022.104516 |bibcode=2022JAfES.18904516Z |s2cid=247421975 }}</ref>
*''[Libysiren](/source/Libysiren)''
*''[Protosiren](/source/Protosiren)''
}}

'''Protosirenidae''' is an [extinct](/source/Extinction) primitive family of the order [Sirenia](/source/Sirenia).<ref>D. P. Domning, G. J. Heal, and S. Sorbi. 2017. ''Libysiren sickenbergi'', gen. et sp. nov.: a new sirenian (Mammalia, Protosirenidae) from the middle Eocene of Libya. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 37(2):[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02724634.2017.1299158 e1299158]</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=43290 | title=Fossilworks: Protosirenidae }}</ref>

Protosirenids are thought to have been amphibious quadrupeds, meaning that they spent their time both on land and in the water and had four legs.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://cetus.ucsd.edu/sio133/PDF/BertaChap5.pdf|title=Sirenian and Other Marine Mammals: Evolution and Systematics|work=Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology |edition=2nd| last1=Berta|first1=Annalisa |last2=Sumich |first2=James |last3=Kovacs |first3=Kit |year=2005 |isbn=9780120885527 |pages=89–110|publisher=Elsevier Science |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Paleontology}}
*[Dugongidae](/source/Dugongidae)
*[Evolution of sirenians](/source/Evolution_of_sirenians)
*[Manatee](/source/Manatee)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36896 ''Protosiren''] at [The Paleobiology Database](/source/The_Paleobiology_Database).

{{Sirenian genera}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3924342}}

Category:Eocene sirenians
Category:Prehistoric mammal families

{{Paleo-sirenian-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Protosirenidae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protosirenidae) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protosirenidae?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.