Desmostylia

Desmostylia is an extinct order of aquatic mammals native to the North Pacific from the Early Oligocene (Rupelian) to the Late Miocene (Tortonian) from 33.9 to 7.2 or 5.3 Ma. However, phylogenetic models suggests the order first appeared during Middle Eocene between 47 and 39 Ma. Desmostylians are the only known extinct order of marine mammals. Their taxonomic placement within Placentalia is subject to considerable debate.

Desmostylia

Sandy__R from Scotland, UK · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
desmostylianPBDB
Sits inside
PerissodactylaPBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB
Life habit
amphibiousPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB
Environment
coastalPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 27.3 Mya to 11.63 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 2.58 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 211 occurrencesOligocene — about 22 of 211 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 188 of 211 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 211 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 0 of 211 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 5 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 5 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 5 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 5 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 6 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 6 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 6 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 6 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 7 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 7 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 36 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 38 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 21 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 18 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 8 occurrences11–9.6 Mya — about 7 occurrences9.6–8.5 Mya — about 7 occurrences8.5–7.4 Mya — about 7 occurrences7.4–6.3 Mya — about 4 occurrences6.3–5.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.2–4.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.1–3.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.0–2.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27.3 Mya11.63 Mya34.5 Mya2 Mya

211 occurrences of Desmostylia on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

211 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

88 formations

Temblor — 35.95°N, 120.22°WTemblor — 35.30°N, 118.50°WTemblor — 35.47°N, 118.91°WTemblor — 36.10°N, 120.40°WTemblor — 35.63°N, 119.69°WTemblor — 35.36°N, 120.22°WTemblor — 35.37°N, 119.02°WTemblor — 36.50°N, 120.32°WTemblor — 36.33°N, 120.36°WTemblor — 33.75°N, 117.87°WTemblor — 36.56°N, 120.56°WTemblor — 36.19°N, 120.40°WTemblor — 36.06°N, 120.61°WTemblor — 35.91°N, 120.14°WTemblor — 35.72°N, 119.98°WTemblor — 36.00°N, 120.51°WTemblor — 36.29°N, 120.33°WMonterey — 33.60°N, 117.70°WMonterey — 33.78°N, 118.39°WMonterey — 35.27°N, 120.67°WMonterey — 34.62°N, 120.13°WMonterey — 34.00°N, 119.60°WMonterey — 35.28°N, 120.53°WMonterey — 36.62°N, 121.90°WBriones — 37.56°N, 121.92°WBriones — 37.45°N, 121.83°WBriones — 37.94°N, 122.26°WBriones — 38.00°N, 122.06°WBriones — 37.68°N, 121.90°WBriones — 37.32°N, 121.88°WBriones — 39.70°N, 123.27°WBriones — 37.90°N, 122.11°WBriones — 37.90°N, 122.03°WBriones — 37.38°N, 121.78°WBriones — 37.57°N, 121.81°WSanta Margarita — 37.05°N, 122.04°WSanta Margarita — 34.61°N, 119.44°WFujina — 35.45°N, 133.06°EFujina — 35.43°N, 133.04°EFujina — 35.35°N, 132.75°EIwando — 36.02°N, 139.37°ERosarito Beach — 32.12°N, 116.80°WYaquina — 44.49°N, 124.09°WYaquina — 44.62°N, 124.06°WPysht — 48.16°N, 123.90°WPysht — 48.22°N, 124.11°WTonokita — 43.17°N, 144.00°ETonokita — 43.20°N, 144.10°EAstoria — 44.70°N, 124.06°WAstoria — 44.77°N, 124.08°WSooke — 48.38°N, 123.87°WSooke — 48.50°N, 124.32°WKadonosawa — 39.35°N, 140.77°EKadonosawa — 40.31°N, 141.33°ESkooner Gulch — 38.87°N, 123.65°WVaqueros — 34.89°N, 119.75°WVaqueros — 36.17°N, 120.67°WVaqueros — 35.09°N, 119.81°WEl Cien — 23.44°N, 109.54°WEl Cien — 25.35°N, 110.98°WEl Cien — 25.19°N, 110.91°WNiwaya — 36.25°N, 138.98°ETopanga — 33.56°N, 117.75°WTopanga — 33.81°N, 117.79°WNagura — 35.99°N, 139.08°ENagura — 36.01°N, 139.03°EBear Lake — 55.50°N, 160.84°WBear Lake — 55.52°N, 160.87°WBear Lake — 56.01°N, 160.24°WTorgugas — 27.15°N, 114.30°WMorawan — 43.30°N, 143.77°EClallam — 48.26°N, 124.25°WBranch Canyon — 34.89°N, 119.62°WBranch Canyon — 34.90°N, 119.69°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Desmostylia has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 64 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 18 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Desmostylia and its relatives

Miocene

Where Desmostylia and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

473 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 171 sites for Desmostylia, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

91 references

Each of the 211 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 79 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Desmostylia

Credit
Sandy__R from Scotland, UK
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Desmostylia was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPerissodactyla through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Reinhart 1953)