| Desmatophocidae Temporal range: Early to Late Miocene
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| Skeleton of Allodesmus sp. at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan | |
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| Holotype skeleton of Atopotarus courseni at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Clade: | Pinnipedia |
| Superfamily: | Otarioidea |
| Family: | †Desmatophocidae |
| Genera | |
Desmatophocidae is an extinct family of pinnipeds closely related to either the eared seals and walruses[1] or to the earless seals.[2][3] These animals were the first group of large-bodied pinnipeds to evolve, first appearing in the Early Miocene, with no direct modern descendants.[4] Desmatophocids have only been found to live in the North Pacific, with fossils being found in Baja California, California, Oregon, Washington, and Japan.[5]
The group is generally known for having large orbits, bulbous cheek teeth, and forelimbs similar to extant eared seals.[4]
- ^ Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, ed. William F. Perrin, Bernd Würsig, J.G.M. Thewissen
- ^ Park, T.; Burin, G.; et al. (1 July 2024). "Charting the course of pinniped evolution: insights from molecular phylogeny and fossil record integration". Evolution. 78 (7): 1212–1226. doi:10.1093/evolut/qpae061.
- ^ Berta, Annelisa. "Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 2nd ed. Pinniped Evolution" (PDF). San Diego State University. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ a b 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. 184 (1): 211–235. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx098. ISSN 0024-4082.
- ^ 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. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1738.1994.tb00119.x. ISSN 1038-4871.