PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Desmostylidae

Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Desmostylidae

Taxonomy

Desmostylidae was named by Osborn (1905).

It was assigned to Sirenia by Osborn (1905), Hay (1915); to Proboscidea by Abel (1919); to Desmostyliformes by Simpson (1932), VanderHoof (1937), Kretzoi (1941), VanderHoof (1942), Pronina (1957), Reinhart (1959); to Desmostylia by McKenna and Bell (1997), Boessenecker (2011), Matsui (2017); to Desmostylia by Shikama (1966), Carroll (1988), Inuzuka et al. (1995), Inuzuka (2000), Barnes and Goedert (2001), Rice (2002), Rice (2009), Domning (2018); and to Desmostyloidea by Matsui and Tsuihiji (2019), Matsui and Pyenson (2023).

Subtaxa

Ashoroa, Cornwallius, Desmostylus (syn. Desmostylella), Ounalashkastylus, Vanderhoofius

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1905	Desmostylidae Osborn p. 109
1915	Desmostylidae Hay p. 385
1919	Desmostylidae Abel p. 830
1932	Desmostylidae Simpson p. 425
1937	Desmostylidae VanderHoof p. 189
1941	Desmostylidae Kretzoi p. 155
1942	Desmostylidae VanderHoof p. 301
1957	Desmostylidae Pronina p. 312
1959	Desmostylidae Reinhart p. 65
1966	Desmostylidae Shikama p. 156
1988	Desmostylidae Carroll
1995	Desmostylidae Inuzuka et al. p. 524
1997	Desmostylidae McKenna and Bell p. 375
2000	Desmostylidae Inuzuka p. 93
2001	Desmostylidae Barnes and Goedert p. 18
2002	Desmostylidae Rice p. 232 figs. Table 1
2009	Desmostylidae Rice p. 235 figs. Table 1
2011	Desmostylidae Boessenecker p. 2
2017	Desmostylidae Matsui p. 2
2018	Desmostylidae Domning p. 251
2019	Desmostylidae Matsui and Tsuihiji p. 10
2023	Desmostylidae Matsui and Pyenson p. 4

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()

Rank	Name	Author
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Euungulata
—	Panperissodactyla
superorder	Perissodactylamorpha
order	Perissodactyla	()
order	Desmostylia
order	Desmostyloidea	Abel 1933
family	Desmostylidae
family	Desmostylidae

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Fm. †Desmostylidae Osborn 1905

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G. †Ashoroa Inuzuka 2000

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†Ashoroa laticosta Inuzuka 2000

G. †Cornwallius Hay 1923

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†Cornwallius sookensis Cornwall 1922

G. †Desmostylus Marsh 1888

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†Desmostylus hesperus Marsh 1888

Invalid names: Desmostylella typica Nagao 1937 [synonym], Desmostylus californicus Hay 1923 [synonym], Desmostylus cymatias Hannibal 1922 [synonym], Desmostylus minor Nagao 1937 [synonym], Desmostylus mirabilis Nagao 1935 [synonym], Desmostylus watasei Hay 1915 [synonym]

†Desmostylus japonicus Tokunaga and Iwasaki 1914

Invalid names: Desmostylella Nagao 1937 [synonym]

G. †Ounalashkastylus Chiba et al. 2016

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†Ounalashkastylus tomidai Chiba et al. 2016

G. †Vanderhoofius Reinhart 1959

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†Vanderhoofius coalingensis Reinhart 1959

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
K. Matsui and T. Tsuihiji 2019	the presence of seven or more cusps on M3 (c. 29(1)), conical and tusk-like lower incisors (c. 32( 2)), no passage anterior to the external auditory meatus connecting to the skull roof (c. 37(1)), presence of an anterior orbital groove (c. 46(1)), having cancellous bones of vertebrae (centrum) (c. 75(3)) and shallow and wide shape of intertubercular groove in humweus(c. 93(2)).