As an Ancient Cow Species Foraged For Seagrass, it Shaped Its Surroundings Around 21 Million Years Ago
Thousands of dugongs swim in the Persian Gulf today, transforming the seabed in search of seagrass, their favorite food. By pulling this foliage from its place in the sand, these creatures create feeding trails as they feed, shaping their environment and releasing nutrients for their entire ecosystem.
By delving deeper into the evolution of these dugong “engineers”, a new study PeerJ showed that sea cows, or sirenians, are not a new addition to the seascape, as they have maintained the seagrass meadows of the Persian Gulf for millions of years.
Describing fossils from a massive marine mammal deposit in Qatar and identifying among them a new species of sea cow, the study suggests that a distant relative of the dugong, Salwasiren qatarensis – a miniature modern dugong – had a similar role in the Persian Gulf around 21 million years ago.
“We discovered a distant relative of dugongs in rocks less than 10 miles from a bay with seagrass beds that are their primary habitat today,” said Nicholas Pyenson, study author and paleontologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, according to a press release. “This part of the world has been the primary habitat of sea cows for 21 million years. It’s just that the role of sea cows has been occupied by different species over time.”
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In search of ancient sea cows
Modern dugongs today swim in warm, shallow waters from the coasts of Africa to Australia, although their ancient relatives were much more widespread and appear in fossil sites around the world. Still, this is by far one of the best places to find these fossils This is Al Maszhabiya, a site along the Persian Gulf coast of Qatar that was identified as a Sirenian bone repository in the 2000s.
“The area was called ‘dugong cemetery’ among members of our authority,” said Ferhan Sakal, another author of the study and an archaeologist at Qatar Museums, according to the press release. “But at the time we had no idea of the richness and extent of the bone bed.”
Returning to the site for a study in 2023, Pyenson, Sakal and their team discovered fossils of ancient dolphins, sharks, sea turtles and fish from the Lower Miocene (about 21 million years ago). More importantly, they also found an assortment of sea cow fossils, spread across the region, in around 170 locations. According to the team, this abundance makes the site one of the largest marine mammal sites ever recorded and an ideal place to study the evolution of sirenians.
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A little mermaid
By analyzing the fossils of ancient sea cows, the team spotted a strong resemblance to the bones of modern dugongs. But they also found substantial differences, including the presence of long-lost limb bones in today’s sirenians, allowing the fossils to be designated as a new species. Salwasiren qatarensis. Weighing approximately 250 pounds, Salwasiren It was also surprisingly small, the team said, weighing about eight times less than some modern dugongs, with a straight snout and two small tusks.
The fossils of Salwasiren qatarensis suggest that the species was small, with a distinctive snout and set of tusks.
(Image credit: ARC.2023.23.008, Qatar Museums, Doha, State of Qatar. Photo by James Di Loreto, Smithsonian.)
Taken together, the fossils and their abundance suggest that seagrasses have thrived in the Persian Gulf for a long, long time, with sea cows managing the meadows around 21 million years ago.
“The density of the Al Maszhabiya bone bed gives us an important clue that Salwasiren “There has been a complete replacement of evolutionary actors, but not of their ecological roles.”
According to the team, more fossil discoveries could follow at the site, assuming it is protected and preserved for future studies. In fact, it is possible that Salwasiren was just one of many sea cows in the area at the time, as some species are famous for sharing their environment with other sirenians managing the seagrass beds.
“The most important part of our collaboration is ensuring that we provide the best possible protection and management for these sites,” Sakal said in the release, “so that we can preserve them for future generations.”
Learn more: An ancient shark-like whale roamed Australia’s surfing coast 26 million years ago
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