The Desmostylia (from Greek δεσμά desma, "bundle", and στῦλος stylos, "pillar")[1] are an extinct order of aquatic mammals native to the North Pacific from the early Oligocene (Rupelian) to the late Miocene (Tortonian) (30.8 to 7.25 million years ago). Desmostylians are the only known extinct order of marine mammals.[2]
The Desmostylia, together with Sirenia and Proboscidea (and possibly Embrithopoda), have traditionally been assigned to the afrotherian clade Tethytheria, a group named after the paleoocean Tethys around which they originally evolved. The relationship between the Desmostylia and the other orders within the Tethytheria has been disputed; if the common ancestor of all tethytheres was semiaquatic, the Proboscidea became secondarily terrestrial; alternatively, the Desmostylia and Sirenia could have evolved independently into aquatic mammals.[3] The assignment of Desmostylia to Afrotheria has always been problematic from a biogeographic standpoint, given that Africa was the locus of the early evolution of the Afrotheria while the Desmostylia have only been found along the Pacific Rim. That assignment has been seriously undermined by a 2014 cladistic analysis that places anthracobunids and desmostylians, two major groups of putative non-African afrotheres, close to each other within the laurasiatherian order Perissodactyla.[4] However, a subsequent study shows that, while anthracobunids are definite perissodactyls, desmostylians share the same number of characteristics necessary for either Paenungulata or Perissodactyla, making their former assessment as afrotheres a possibility.[5]
^Gingerich 2005, Introduction
^Gheerbrant, Domning & Tassy 2005, pp. 95–6
^Uhen 2007, p. 515
^Cooper et al. 2014
^Gheerbrant, Emmanuel; Filippo, Andrea; Schmitt, Arnaud (2016). "Convergence of Afrotherian and Laurasiatherian Ungulate-Like Mammals: First Morphological Evidence from the Paleocene of Morocco". PLOS ONE. 11 (7): e0157556. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1157556G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157556. PMC 4934866. PMID 27384169.
The Desmostylia (from Greek δεσμά desma, "bundle", and στῦλος stylos, "pillar") are an extinct order of aquatic mammals native to the North Pacific from...
of the enigmatic Miocene tethythere Desmostylus and Paleoparadoxia (Desmostylia; Mammalia) inferred from the depositional depth of fossil occurrences...
more possible orders are known only as fossils, namely Embrithopoda and Desmostylia. Molecular evidence indicates that Paenungulata (or at least its extant...
(2004). "Reinterpretation of some cranial structures of Desmostylia hesperus (Mammalia, Desmostylia): A new specimen from the Middle Miocene Tachikaraushinai...
Pyenson, N. D. (2023). "New evidence for the antiquity of Desmostylus (Desmostylia) from the Skooner Gulch Formation of California". Royal Society Open...
to the clade, but their placement is uncertain. The enigmatic aquatic Desmostylia have also been suggested to be related to perissodactyls in some studies...
.A new genus and species of late Miocene Paleoparadoxiid (Mammalia, Desmostylia) from California. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Contributions...
assemblage of elephants, sirenians, and the extinct orders Embrithopoda and Desmostylia. The extinct meridiungulate family Archaeohyracidae, consisting of seven...
alongside Proboscidea (elephants), Hyracoidea (hyraxes), Embrithopoda, Desmostylia, and Afroinsectiphilia. This clade was first established by George Gaylord...
Afrotheria, and that delayed dentition can not be the most primitive state of Desmostylia. Skeletons of several individuals were found on western Hokkaido Island...
Oligocene (Chattian). Reinhart, R. H. (1959). "A review of the Sirenia and Desmostylia". Systematic Zoology. 25 (4): 344–351. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.820.5979. v t...
(Phenacodontidae and Meniscotheriidae) and Pantomesaxonia (Sirenia, Desmostylia, Proboscidea, Hyracoidea, and Perissodactyla) are sister groups together...
Archived 2010-05-27 at the Wayback Machine Bibliography and Index of the Sirenia and Desmostylia – Dr. Domning's authoritative manatee research bibliography...
extinct family of herbivorous marine mammals belonging to the order of Desmostylia. They lived in the coastal waters of the northern Pacific Ocean from...
This is an incomplete list of prehistoric mammals. It does not include extant mammals or recently extinct mammals. For extinct primate species, see: list...
horses and brontotheres, despite their more primitive overall appearance. Desmostylia and Anthracobunidae have traditionally been placed among the afrotheres...
dugongs Family Trichechidae: manatees Infraorder Behemota Parvorder †Desmostylia Family †Desmostylidae Parvorder Proboscidea Family †Anthracobunidae Family...
Perissodactyla, Hyracoidea, Sirenia, and Proboscidea, as well as the extinct Desmostylia, Embrithopoda, Litopterna, Notoungulata, and Astrapotheria. Prothero...
"Primitive late Oligocene desmostylians from Japan and Phylogeny of the Desmostylia". Bulletin of the Ashoro Museum of Paleontology. 1: 91–123. Hayashi,...
focuses on the conditions of the ocean and the climate Introduction to the Desmostylia Museum of Paleontology, University of California – extinct group of marine...
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