- Behemotops
Taxobox
name = "Behemotops"
fossil_range =Oligocene
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
ordo =Desmostylia
familia =Desmostylidae
genus = "Behemotops"
genus_authority = Domning et al. 1986
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "B. proteus " (type)
* "B. katsuiei ""Behemotops" (Greek for "
hippopotamus -looking") is anextinct genus ofherbivorous marinemammals which existed from theRupelian age to theChattian age of theOligocene epoch (33.9 to 23 million years ago). It was discovered on the northernOregon coast in the early 1970s by Herculean fossil collectorDouglas Emlong , and described byDaryl Domning ,Clayton E. Ray andMalcolm C. McKenna in 1986 [cite journal|author = D. P. Domning, C. E. Ray, and M. C. McKenna|year = 1986|title = Two new Oligocene desmostylians and a discussion of Tethytherian systematics|journal = Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 59:1-56] . Fossils representing this genus have been found inOregon , Washington andHokkaidō ."Behemotops" had more
elephant -like tooth and jaw features than other knowndesmostylia ns from later periods. It had cusped molars that more resembled those ofmastodons or other landungulates than those of later "Desmostylus ", which exhibited odd "bound-pillar" shaped molars which may have evolved in response to the grit from a diet of sea-grass. [cite book|author = Wallace, D.R|year = 2007|title = Neptune's Ark: From Ichthyosaurs to Orcas|publisher = University of California Press] Discovery of "Behemotops" helped place desmostylians as more closely related toproboscidea ns thansirenians , although relationships of this group are still poorly resolved.References
External links
* [http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/mesaxonia/desmostylia.html Introduction to Desmostylia]
* " [http://www.kenozoicum.nl/database/desmostylus.html Desmostylus] " (in Dutch)
* [http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=36956&is_real_user=1 "Behemotops" at The Paleobiology Database]
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