Desmatophocidae Explained

Desmatophocidae is an extinct family of pinnipeds closely related to the eared seals and walruses.^[1] These animals were the first group of large-bodied pinnipeds to evolve, first appearing in the Early Miocene, with no direct modern descendants.^[2] Desmatophocids have only been found to live in the North Pacific, with fossils being found in Baja California, California, Oregon, Washington, and Japan.^[3]

The group is generally known for having large orbits, bulbous cheek teeth, and forelimbs similar to extant eared seals.

Genera

• Allodesmus
• Atopotarus
• Desmatophoca
• Eodesmus

Notes and References

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=2rkHQpToi9sC&q=%22Desmatophocidae%22 Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals
2. Boessenecker . Robert W . Churchill . Morgan . 2018-09-01 . The last of the desmatophocid seals: a new species of Allodesmus from the upper Miocene of Washington, USA, and a revision of the taxonomy of Desmatophocidae . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . en . 184 . 1 . 211–235 . 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx098 . 0024-4082.
3. Barnes . Lawrence G. . Hirota . Kiyoharu . 1995 . Miocene pinnipeds of the otariid subfamily Allodesminae in the North Pacific Ocean: Systematics and relationships . The Island Arc . 3 . 4 . 329–360 . 10.1111/j.1440-1738.1994.tb00119.x . 1038-4871.