Protohimantura
| Protohimantura Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Myliobatiformes |
| Family: | Dasyatidae |
| Genus: | †Protohimantura Marramà, Klug, de Vos & Kriwet, 2018 |
| Species: | †P. vorstmani |
| Binomial name | |
| †Protohimantura vorstmani (de Beaufort, 1926) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Trygon vorstmani de Beaufort, 1926 | |
Protohimantura is a genus of whipray that lived in Indonesia during Miocene epoch. It is known from one specimen consisting its front body which is a rarity compared to other Southeast Asian ray fossils that usually only consist of tooth. The fossil come from Pattunuang Asue which itself is a part of Tonasa Formation (South Sulawesi) that mainly known for marine fish fossils.
From the preserved part, Protohimantura can be inferred as an average-sized whipray that have 50-60 cm total length. It mostly differed from its modern relatives by the eye, neurocranial, and body radials proportion. Its closest living relatives are whipray from Himantura genera. They form a clade that is sister to all other dasyatids.
References
- 1 2 Marramà, Giuseppe; Klug, Stefanie; Vos, John; Kriwet, Jürgen (2018-05-12). "Anatomy, relationships and palaeobiogeographic implications of the first Neogene holomorphic stingray (Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae) from the early Miocene of Sulawesi, Indonesia, SE Asia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society: 1142–1168. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly020. hdl:2318/1766104.
- ↑ de Beaufort, L.F. (1926). "On a collection of marine fishes from the Miocene of South Celebes". Geologische Onderzoekingen in den Oostelijken Oost-Indischen Archiepel.