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Desmostylidae Temporal range: Early Oligocene to Miocene, 33.9–7.2 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Desmostylus, Royal Ontario Museum
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Desmostylia
Family:	†Desmostylidae Osborn 1905

Desmostylidae is an extinct family of herbivorous marine mammals belonging to the order of Desmostylia. They lived in the coastal waters of the northern Pacific Ocean from the Early Oligocene (Rupelian) through the Late Miocene (Tortonian) (33.9 mya—7.2 MYA) existing for approximately 26.7 million years.

Taxonomy and systematics

Desmostylidae was named by Osborn 1905. It was assigned to Sirenia by Osborn (1905); to Proboscidea by Abel (1919); to Desmostyliformes by Simpson (1932), Kretzoi (1941) and Reinhart (1959); to Desmostylia by McKenna and Bell (1997); and to Desmostylia by Carroll (1988), Inuzuka et al. (1995), Inuzuka (2000) and Barnes and Goedert (2001).

Cockburn & Beatty 2009 found a subadult specimen of Behemotops proteus on Vancouver Island in 2007. They noted that (1) the cranial features of their specimen were similar to those of Cornwallius and that (2) the adult dentition was not delayed in their specimen, unlike in Desmostylus and other Afrotheria, and they concluded that (1) Desmostylidae and Paleoparadoxiidae probably diverged earlier than previously believed and that (2) delayed dentition can not be the most primitive state of Desmostylia.

Classification

Classification after Chiba 2016:

• †Desmostylidae:
  • †Cornwallius
  • †Behemotops
  • †Desmostylus
  • †Kronokotherium
  • †Ounalashkastylus

References

1. ^ Desmostylidae in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved April 2020.
2. ^ K. Chiba, A. R. Fiorillo, L. L. Jacobs, Y. Kimura, Y. Kobayashi, N. Kohno, Y. Nishida, M. J. Polcyn, and K. Tanaka. 2016. A new desmostylian mammal from Unalaska (USA) and the robust Sanjussen jaw from Hokkaido (Japan), with comments on feeding in derived desmostylids. Historical Biology 28(1-2):289-303
3. Cockburn & Beatty 2009, Abstract

• Cockburn, Thomas; Beatty, Brian (2009). "A Partial Skeleton of Behemotops (Desmostylia, Mammalia) from Vancouver Island, British Columbia" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (3, Supplement). doi:10.1080/02724634.2009.10411818. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
• McKenna, Malcolm C.; Bell, Susan K. (1997). Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231110138. OCLC 37345734.
• Osborn, H. F. (1905). "Ten years progress in the mammalian Palaeontology of North America". Extrait des Comptes rendus du 6e Congres international de Zoologie. Session de Berne 1904: 86–113. OCLC 18502464.

v t e Paenungulatomorpha
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Infraclass: Placentalia Superorder: Afrotheria
Paenungulatomorpha †Abdounodus †Hadrogeneios †Ocepeia Hyracoidea †Dimaitherium †Helioseus †Megalohyrax †Microhyrax †Namahyrax †Regubahyrax †Rukwalorax †Saghatherium †Seggeurius †Selenohyrax †Thyrohyrax †Geniohyidae Abdahyrax Brachyhyrax Bunohyrax Geniohyus Nengohyrax Pachyhyrax †Titanohyracidae Afrohyrax Antilohyrax Rupestrohyrax Titanohyrax †Pliohyracidae Hengduanshanhyrax Kvabebihyrax Meroehyrax Parapliohyrax Pliohyrax Postschizotherium Prohyrax Procaviidae Dendrohyrax †Gigantohyrax Heterohyrax Procavia Tethytheria †Desmostylia? Paleoparadoxiidae Ashoroa Paleoparadoxia Neoparadoxia Desmostylidae Behemotops Cornwallius Desmostylus Kronokotherium Ounalashkastylus †Embrithopoda Stylolophus Arsinoitheriidae Arsinoitherium Namatherium Palaeoamasiidae Crivadiatherium Hypsamasia Palaeoamasia Proboscidea see Proboscidea includes elephants Sirenia see Sirenia includes dugongs and manatees

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• Desmostylians
• Oligocene mammals
• Miocene mammals
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