Prototherium
Extinct genus of mammals
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Prototherium is a genus of extinct sirenian related to the dugong. It is known from middle (Bartonian) and upper Eocene deposits in Italy and Spain. Type species is P. veronenses (Zigno, 1887[1])
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| Mounted Prototherium veronense skeleton | |
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| Subfamily: | †Halitheriinae |
| Genus: | Prototherium de Zigno, 1887 |
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Three species are now included in the genus, but their phylogenetic relations are not resolved and possibly one of them Prototherium intermedium Bizzotto 1983[2] must be excluded. In the same way, relations between Prototherium and other genus are confused and need revision. A third species was described in Spain in 2016, P.ausetanum[3].
