Extinction of Sirenia of Europe and North Africa

The disappearance of the European/North African Sirenia (Mammalia)

Authors:

1. Gonçalo Prista (a)
2. Mário Estevens (c)
3. Rui Agostinho (d)
4. Mário Cachão (a, b)

Affiliations:

a. Centre of Geology of the University of Lisbon, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal

b. Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Geology Department, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal

c. Almada City Council, Departamento de Estratégia e Gestão Ambiental Sustentável Ecoteca de Almada - Casa Municipal do Ambiente R. Bernardo Francisco da Costa, nº 40 e nº 42 2800-029 Almada, Portugal

d. Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Physics Department, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract:

Sirenia inhabited the coastal waters of Europe and North Africa from the Eocene until the end of the Pliocene. They are the only herbivorous marine mammals, and their presence in the European/North African realm is supported by almost 400 fossil records. Their dependence on seagrass, as well as their ecological needs, limited their capability to adapt to the climate changes that occurred during the Cenozoic. Their disappearance from European and Mediterranean shores occurred in two different steps: 1) the European Atlantic extinction, related to global cooling and fragmentation of the seagrass meadows, which greatly reduced sirenia habitats and resources; 2) their disappearance from the Mediterranean, linked not to declining resources but to the onset of continental glaciations in the northern hemisphere.