# Allodesmus

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***Allodesmus*** is an extinct [genus](/source/Genus) of [pinniped](/source/Pinniped) from the middle to late [Miocene](/source/Miocene) of [California](/source/California) and [Japan](/source/Japan) that belongs to the [extinct](/source/Extinct) pinniped [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Desmatophocidae](/source/Desmatophocidae).

## Description and biology

*Allodesmus* measured about 8 feet (2.4 m) long and weighed 800 pounds (360 kg). *Allodesmus* had the specific anatomical features found in modern polygynous pinnipeds: [sexual dimorphism](/source/Sexual_dimorphism), strong canines for fights between bulls and teeth with well-defined growth zones, a result from periodic fasting (in order to defend their [harem](/source/Harem_(zoology)), males would not take to the sea to feed during the breeding season).[1]

## Taxonomy

*Allodesmus sinanoensis* and *A. packardi* were previously assigned separate genera, *Megagomphos* and *Brachyallodesmus*, respectively, but many authors questioned this generic distinction, and the cladistic analysis by Boessenecker and Churchill (2018) found no support for this generic scheme. *[Atopotarus](/source/Atopotarus)*, referred to *Allodesmus* by some authors (e.g. Mitchell 1966), is distinct from *Allodesmus* by the absence of a prenarial shelf and M2, double-rooted cheek teeth, a small, triangular postorbital process, and a mastoid process projecting ventral to the postglenoid process.[2][3]

## References

1. Bonner, Nigel (1982). [*Seals And Man - A Study Of Interactions*](https://archive.org/details/sealsmanstudyofi00bonn/page/11). USA: University of Washington. pp. [11](https://archive.org/details/sealsmanstudyofi00bonn/page/11). ISBN 0-295-95890-1.

1. L. G. Barnes and K. Hirota. 1995. Miocene pinnipeds of the otariid subfamily Allodesminae in the North Pacific Ocean: Systematics and relationships. The Island Arc 3:329-360

1. Robert W. Boessenecker; Morgan Churchill (2018). "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. Online edition. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx098.

- Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, ed. William F. Perrin, [Bernd Würsig](/source/Bernd_W%C3%BCrsig), J.G.M. Thewissen

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