Paleoparadoxia ("ancient paradox") is a genus of large, herbivorous aquatic mammals that inhabited the northern Pacific coastal region during the Miocene epoch (). It ranged from the waters of Japan (Tsuyama and Yanagawa), to Alaska in the north, and down to Baja California, Mexico. Description Paleoparadoxia is thought to have fed primarily on seaweeds and sea grasses. The jaws and the angle of the teeth resemble a backhoe bucket. Its bulky body was well adapted for swimming and underwater foraging. Originally interpreted as amphibious, Paleoparadoxia is now thought to have been a fully marine mammal like their living relatives, the sirenians, spending most of their lives walking across the sea bottom like marine hippos. Studies on its habitat preference show that it favoured deep, offshore waters. Size estimates of P. tabatai vary, with the Tsuyama specimen measuring in length, in height, and in body mass, and the other specimens measuring and in body mass. named the genus Cornwallius but synonymized it as a species of Paleoparadoxia. See also Behemotops Desmostylus Tethytheria References Bibliography Desmostylians Miocene mammals of North America Miocene mammals of Asia Miocene genus extinctions Fossils of the United States Fossil taxa described in 1959 Prehistoric placental genera Fossils of Japan Fossils of Mexico Neogene Alaska