Desmostylus

Desmostylus is an extinct genus of herbivorous mammal of the family Desmostylidae living from the Early Miocene and went extinct during the Late Miocene from 23.03 to 11 Ma.

Desmostylus

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
Sits inside
DesmostylidaePBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB, for Desmostylia
Life habit
amphibiousPBDB, for Desmostylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Desmostylia
Environment
coastalPBDB, for Desmostylia

Time the record covers

At least 8.8 million years on record.

The record covers at least 20.45 Mya to 11.63 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 2.58 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 114 occurrencesOligocene — about 2 of 114 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 112 of 114 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 114 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 0 of 114 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 2 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 3 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 3 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 4 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 5 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 5 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 5 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 16 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 17 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 15 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 13 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 5 occurrences11–9.6 Mya — about 5 occurrences9.6–8.5 Mya — about 5 occurrences8.5–7.4 Mya — about 5 occurrences7.4–6.3 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.3–5.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.2–4.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.1–3.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.0–2.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20.45 Mya11.63 Mya34.5 Mya2 Mya

114 occurrences of Desmostylus 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

114 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

50 formations

Temblor — 35.30°N, 118.50°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°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°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 — 35.28°N, 120.53°WMonterey — 36.62°N, 121.90°WFujina — 35.45°N, 133.06°EFujina — 35.43°N, 133.04°EFujina — 35.35°N, 132.75°EAstoria — 44.70°N, 124.06°WAstoria — 44.77°N, 124.08°WKadonosawa — 39.35°N, 140.77°EKadonosawa — 40.31°N, 141.33°ESanta Margarita — 37.05°N, 122.04°WRosarito Beach — 32.12°N, 116.80°WVaqueros — 34.89°N, 119.75°WVaqueros — 36.17°N, 120.67°WVaqueros — 35.09°N, 119.81°WIwando — 36.02°N, 139.37°EBranch Canyon — 34.89°N, 119.62°WBranch Canyon — 34.90°N, 119.69°WSkooner Gulch — 38.87°N, 123.65°WTopanga — 33.56°N, 117.75°WTopanga — 33.81°N, 117.79°WYakumo — 42.45°N, 139.85°EEtolon — 57.43°N, 157.01°EEtolon — 57.74°N, 156.90°EPuente — 33.84°N, 117.82°WPuente — 33.65°N, 117.62°WGoyasu — 36.75°N, 140.13°ETonokita — 43.17°N, 144.00°EClallam — 48.26°N, 124.25°WUchiboro — 49.70°N, 143.00°ETachikaraushinai — 44.72°N, 142.61°ENiwaya — 36.25°N, 138.98°EShinkida — 35.50°N, 137.83°ENye — 44.65°N, 124.05°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Desmostylus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 26 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 9 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Desmostylus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Desmostylus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

251 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 101 sites for Desmostylus, 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

43 references

Each of the 114 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. 31 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 content3

Picture of Desmostylus

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

Structured light scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Desmostylus sp · USNM:PAL:USNM PAL706595

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

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 itDesmostylidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Marsh 1888