Dugongidae

Dugongidae[1] Temporal range: Late Eocene-Holocene
A dugong in Marsa Alam
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Sirenia
Family:	Dugongidae Gray, 1821
Genera
See text

The Dugongidae are a family in the order of Sirenia. The family has one surviving species, the dugong (Dugong dugon), one recently extinct species, Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), and a number of extinct genera known from fossil records.

Taxonomy

• Family DUGONGIDAE
  • Genus †Anisosiren
  • Genus †Indosiren
  • Genus †Miodugong (nomen dubium)
  • Subfamily Dugonginae
    • Genus †Bharatisiren
    • Genus †Callistosiren^[2]
    • Genus †Crenatosiren
    • Genus †Corystosiren
    • Genus †Dioplotherium
    • Genus †Domningia
    • Genus Dugong
      • Species Dugong dugon, dugong
    • Genus †Kutchisiren
    • Genus †Nanosiren
    • Genus †Rytiodus
    • Genus †Xenosiren
  • Subfamily †"Halitheriinae" (paraphyletic) (=Metaxytheriinae Kretzoi, 1941)
    • Genus †Caribosiren
    • Genus †Halitherium (paraphyletic)
    • Genus †Metaxytherium (paraphyletic)
    • Genus †Paralitherium
    • Genus †Priscosiren^[3]
    • Genus †Sirenavus
  • Subfamily †Hydrodamalinae
    • Genus †Dusisiren
    • Genus †Hydrodamalis
      • Species †Hydrodamalis cuestae
      • Species †Hydrodamalis gigas, Steller's sea cow

The genera Eosiren, Eotheroides, and Prototherium have been assigned to Halitheriinae in the past, but recent cladistic analysis recovers these genera as basal to the clade formed by Trichechidae and Dugongidae. Moreover, Halitheriinae is paraphyletic with respect to Dugonginae and Hydrodamalinae, and further use of the name should be discontinued because the type genus is based on a non-diagnostic tooth.^[4]

References

1. Shoshani, J. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
2. Vélez-Juarbe, Jorge; Domning, Daryl P. (2015). "Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean region. XI. Callistosiren boriquensis, gen. et sp. nov". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35: e885034. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.885034.
3. Vélez-Juarbe, Jorge; Domning, Daryl P. (2014). "Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean region. X. Priscosiren atlantica, sp. nov". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (4): 951. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.815192.
4. Voss, Manja (2014). "On the invalidity of Halitherium schinzii Kaup, 1838 (Mammalia, Sirenia), with comments on systematic consequences". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 90: 87. doi:10.3897/zse.90.7421.