Salwasiren

Salwasiren Temporal range: Early Miocene (Aquitanian),
Holotype of Salwasiren
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Placentalia
Order:	Sirenia
Family:	Dugongidae
Subfamily:	Dugonginae
Genus:	†Salwasiren Pyenson et al., 2025
Species:	†S. qatarensis
Binomial name
†Salwasiren qatarensis Pyenson et al., 2025

Salwasiren is an extinct genus of dugongid sirenian mammal from the Early Miocene of the Dam Formation (Lower Al-Kharrara Member) of southwestern Qatar. The genus contains a single species, Salwasiren qatarensis. The generic name, Salwasiren, is a reference to the Gulf of Salwah, while the specific name, qatarensis refers to Qatar, the country in which it was found.

Discovery and naming

The fossils of Salwasiren were discovered in 2023–2024 when Nicholas Pyenson and colleagues were prospecting fossil-bearing outcrops of the Dam Formation in southwestern Qatar. In 2025, Pyenson et al. named Salwasiren qatarensis as a new genus and species based on the discovered material.

The holotype of S. qatarensis consists of fossilised remains of an incomplete cranium, a mandible, a maxillary second molar, a sternum, two scapulae, two humeri, an ilium, and a partial vertebral column. An incomplete left incisor was also referred to this species.

Classification

The cladogram below illustrates the results of the phylogenetic analysis done by Pyenson et al. (2025).

Sirenia

Trichechidae (manatees and their fossil relatives) †Kaupitherium spp. †Lentiarenium cristolii †Priscosiren atlantica †Caribosiren turneri †Stegosiren macei Dugongidae †Dusisiren spp. + †Metaxytherium spp. + †Hydrodamalis spp. Dugonginae †Crenatosiren olseni †Italosiren bellunensis †Salwasiren qatarensis †Nanosiren spp. Dugong dugon †Corystosiren varguezi †Callistosiren boriquensis †Rytiodus heali †Domningia sodhae †Dioplotherium manigaulti †Xenosiren yucateca †Norosiren zazavavindrano †Kutchisiren cylindrica †Rytiodus capgrandi †Bharatisiren spp. †Culebratherium alemani †Dioplotherium allisoni

Palaeoenvironment

Salwasiren likely lived alongside multiple indeterminate odontocete cetaceans, turtles, teleosts and carcharhiniform sharks.