Range Steller's sea cow
the range of steller s sea cow @ time of discovery apparently restricted shallow seas around commander islands, include bering , copper islands. commander islands remained uninhabited until 1825 when russian-american company relocated aleuts attu island , atka island there. first fossils discovered outside commander islands found in interglacial pleistocene deposits in amchitka, , further fossils dating late pleistocene found in monterey bay, california, , honshu, japan. suggests sea cow had far more extensive range in prehistoric times. cannot excluded these fossils belong other hydrodamalis species. remains of 3 individuals found preserved in south bight formation of amchitka; late pleistocene interglacial deposits rare in aleutians, discovery suggests sea cows abundant in era. according steller, sea cow resided in shallow, sandy shorelines , in mouths of freshwater rivers.
bone fragments , accounts native aleut people suggest sea cows historically inhabited near islands, potentially viable populations in contact humans in western aleutian islands prior steller s discovery in 1741. sea cow rib discovered in 1998 on kiska island dated around 1,000 years old, , in possession of burke museum in seattle. dating may skewed due marine reservoir effect causes radiocarbon-dated marine specimens appear several hundred years older are. marine reservoir effect caused large reserves of c in ocean, , more animal died between 1710 , 1785.
a 2004 study reported sea cow bones discovered on adak island around 1,700 years old, , sea cow bones discovered on buldir island found around 1,600 years old. possible bones cetaceans , misclassified. rib bones of steller s sea cow have been found on st. lawrence island, , specimen thought have lived between 800 , 920 ce.
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