Odobenidae
Encyclopedia
Odobenidae is a family of Pinniped
s. The only living species is walrus
.
In the past, however, the group was much more diverse, and includes more than ten fossil genera.
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
s. The only living species is walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
.
In the past, however, the group was much more diverse, and includes more than ten fossil genera.
Taxonomy
All genera, except Odobenus, are extinct.- Prototaria
- Proneotherium
- NeotheriumNeotheriumNeotherium mirum is an extinct species of walrus. It was smaller than living forms and it did not have long tusks. Males were larger than females....
- ImagotariaImagotariaImagotaria is an extinct monotypic genus of walrus with the sole species Imagotaria downsi. Fossils of Imagotaria are known from the early late Miocene of California .-Description:...
- Kamtschatarctos
- PelagiarctosPelagiarctosPelagiarctos was a genus of walrus that lived during the Mid Miocene, approx. 13-15 mya. Its remains have been found in the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, in Kern county, California...
- PliopediaPliopediaPliopedia pacifica is an extinct species of walrus found in what is now Central Valley, California, which lived during the late Miocene....
- Oriensarctos
- Subfamily Dusignathinae
- Pontolis
- Dusignathus
- GomphotariaGomphotariaGomphotaria pugnax was a species of very large shellfish-eating dusignathine walrus found along the coast of what is now California, during the late Miocene. It had four tusks, with one pair in the lower and upper jaws, and according to wear on the tusks, G...
- Pseudobenus
- Subfamily Odobeninae
- AivukusAivukusAivukus is an extinct genus of walrus from the Miocene. From fossil records it was a much bigger, but had a walrus skeleton, but much enlarged. It probably ate fish...
- AlachtheriumAlachtheriumOntocetus is an extinct genus of walrus, an aquatic carnivoran of the family Odobenidae, endemic to coastal regions of the southern North Sea and the southeastern coastal regions of the U.S. during the Miocene-Pleistocene...
- Gingimanducans
- Protodobenus
- Prorosmarus
- ValenictusValenictusValenictus is an extinct genus of Odobenidae from the Pliocene of California.-Description:Valenictus is related to the modern-day walrus, but lacked all teeth both in the lower and upper jaw except for the two tusks.-Sources:...
- Odobenus
- Aivukus
Sources
- Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, ed. William F. Perrin, Bernd Würsig, J.G.M. Thewissen
- Marine Mammals, Evolutionary Biology, 2nd ed.