Desmostylus hesperus Marsh, 1888
Systematics: Mammalia Afrotheria(?) Desmostylia Desmostylidae
Size: 1.8 m long
Type Horizon and Locality: Middle Miocene, Briones Formation, San Pablo Group (Serravallian) Alameda County, California, US
Type Specimen: YPM 1395d, a set of isolated teeth
Type Horizon and Locality: Middle Miocene, Briones Formation, San Pablo Group (Serravallian) Alameda County, California, US
Type Specimen: YPM 1395d, a set of isolated teeth
Desmostylian form a small group of aquatic hippo-like mammals of uncertain affinities that lived around the northern Pacific rim between 30 and 7 millions years ago. Isotope analysis showed that Desmostylus lived in freshwater ecosystems probably feeding on aquatic freshwater plants. The species D. hesperus was first described from a set of teeth discovered near Mission San Jose, California.
June 30, 2021
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