Holy! Cow! The legged sea cow found at last!

A legged aquatic wonder has just been discovered in Jamaica. A 50 million year old skeleton of the legged sea cow has been discovered. The distinction for first view goes to Daryl Domning, a paleontologist at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The skeleton found in Seven Rivers, Jamaica, measures all of 7 foot and appears to be a new genus and species of the order Sirenia. Most manatees and dugongs belong to this family.

Researchers believe that the sea cows were plant-eating mammals that lived exclusively in water. With four well developed legs, it is the first complete fossil of a sea cow which shows the distinct and clear transition from land to marine life. With enlarged nostrils drawn backward in to the skull, researchers believe it took less than 10 million years for the former land mammal to become fully aquatic.

This interesting discovery follows closely in the wake of other interesting reports of whale fossils from Pakistan with well-developed limbs. Daryl Domning is a recipient of a grant from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration (CRE).