Cows of the Sea: Exploring the Evolution of Manatees and Dugongs

Please enjoy this episode focusing on the evolution of the Sirenians, a group of cute, placid aquatic herbivorous mammals closely related to elephants. https://www.patreon.com/c/DrPolaris Thumbnail art by Joschua Knuppe. Sources used for this video: Beatty, Brian L.; Geisler, Jonathan (2010). "A stratigraphically precise record of Protosiren (Protosirenidae, Sirenia) from North America". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 258 (2): 185–194. Bibcode:2010NJGPA.258..185B. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0095. Benoit J et al. 2013. Cranial Remain from Tunisia Provides New Clues for the Origin and Evolution of Sirenia (Mammalia, Afrotheria) in Africa. PLoS ONE 8(1): e54307; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054307 de Souza, Érica Martinha Silva; Freitas, Lucas; da Silva Ramos, Elisa Karen; Selleghin-Veiga, Giovanna; Rachid-Ribeiro, Michelle Carneiro; Silva, Felipe André; Marmontel, Miriam; dos Santos, Fabrício Rodrigues; Laudisoit, Anne; Verheyen, Erik; Domning, Daryl P. (2021-02-11). "The evolutionary history of manatees told by their mitogenomes". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 3564. Bibcode:2021NatSR..11.3564D. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-82390-2. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7878490. PMID 33574363. Díaz-Berenguer, E.; Badiola, A.; Moreno-Azanza, M.; Canudo, J. I. (2018). "First adequately-known quadrupedal sirenian from Eurasia (Eocene, Bay of Biscay, Huesca, northeastern Spain)". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 5127. Bibcode:2018NatSR...8.5127D. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23355-w. PMC 5865116. PMID 29572454. Domning, D. P. (2001-10-11). "The earliest known fully quadrupedal sirenians". Nature. 413 (6856). Nature Publishing Group: 625–627. Bibcode:2001Natur.413..625D. doi:10.1038/35098072. PMID 11675784. S2CID 22005691. Furusawa, Hitoshi (April 2004). "A phylogeny of the North Pacific Sirenia (Dugongidae: Hydrodamalinae) based on a comparative study of endocranial casts". Paleontological Research. 8 (2): 91–98. doi:10.2517/prpsj.8.91. Gheerbrant, Emmanuel (2023-04-27). "Ancestral radiation of paenungulate mammals (Paenungulatomorpha)—new evidence from the Paleocene of Morocco". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 42 (5). doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2197971. ISSN 0272-4634. Hautier, L., R. Sarr, R. Tabuce, F. Lihoreau, S. Adnet, D. P. Domning, M. Samb, and P. Marwan Hameh. 2012. First prorastomid sirenian from Senegal (Western Africa) and the Old World origin of sea cows. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32:1218-1222. Jones, Ryan T. (September 2011). "A 'Havock Made among Them': Animals, Empire, and Extinction in the Russian North Pacific, 1741–1810". Environmental History. 16 (4): 585–609. doi:10.1093/envhis/emr091. JSTOR 23049853. Kerber, L; Moraes-Santos, H.M. (2021). "Endocranial Morphology of a Middle Miocene South American Dugongid and the Neurosensorial Evolution of Sirenians". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 28 (3): 661–678. doi:10.1007/s10914-021-09555-8. S2CID 236226810. Luiselli, L.; Akani, G.C.; Ebere, N.; Angelici, F. M.; Amori, G.; Politano, E. (2012). "Macro-habitat preferences by the African manatee and crocodiles – ecological and conservation implications". Web Ecology. 12 (1): 39–48. Bibcode:2012WEco...12...39L. doi:10.5194/we-12-39-2012. Saha, A.; Verma, S. K.; Bajpai, S.; Roy, P.; Domning, D. P. (2026). "Miocene dugongid (Mammalia, Sirenia) diversity in the Indian Ocean, with description of a new genus and species from Kutch, Western India". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e2634013. doi:10.1080/02724634.2026.2634013. Sharko, F. S.; Boulygina, E. S.; et al. (2021). "Steller's sea cow genome suggests this species began going extinct before the arrival of Paleolithic humans". Nature Communications. 12 (2215): 2215. Bibcode:2021NatCo..12.2215S. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22567-5. PMC 8044168. PMID 33850161. Velez-Juarbe, Jorge; Domning, Daryl P.; Pyenson, Nicholas D. (2012-02-03). "Iterative Evolution of Sympatric Seacow (Dugongidae, Sirenia) Assemblages during the Past ~26 Million Years". PLOS ONE. 7 (2) e31294. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...731294V. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031294. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3272043. PMID 22319622.