| Restricted to the Old World, desmans have a diet consisting of aquatic invertebrates and fish. |
| Moles are from the family Talpidae which includes moles, desmans, and shrew-moles. |
| Usually solitary creatures, desmans form monogamous pairs and mate in springtime. |
| Trunk and limb proportions of early middle Eocene Rodhocetus are most similar to those of the living, highly aquatic, foot-powered desmans. |
