Odobenidae is a family of pinnipeds, of which the only extant species is the walrus (Odobenus rosmarus). In the past, however, the group was much more diverse, and includes more than a dozen fossil genera.

Odobenidae
Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Clade: Pinnipedia
Superfamily: Otarioidea
Family: Odobenidae
Allen, 1880
Genera

Odobenus (walrus)
(see text for more)

Taxonomy

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All genera, except Odobenus, are extinct.[1]

In re-analyzing Pelagiarctos, Boessenecker et al. (2013) proposed the phylogenetic relationships of Odobenidae as follows (this analysis excluded Archaeodobenus, Titanotaria, Nanodobenus, and Pliopedia; and included Enaliarctos, Pteronarctos, Allodesmus, Desmatophoca, Callorhinus, Monachus, and Erignathus):[3]

Enaliarctos emlongi

Pteronarctos goedertae

Desmatophocidae
Otariidae

Callorhinus ursinus

Phocidae
Imagotariinae

Prototaria primigenia

Proneotherium regenningi

Neotherium mirum

Kamtschatarctos sinelnikovae

Pseudotaria muramotoi

Pelagiarctos sp. †

Imagotaria downsi

Pontolis magnus

Dusignathinae

Dusignathus santacruzensis

Gomphotaria pugnax

Dusignathus seftoni

Odobeninae

Aivukus cedrosensis

Protodobenus japonicus

References

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  1. ^ Berta A, Sumich J, Kovacs K (December 2005). Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology (2nd ed.). Elsevier/Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-08-048934-6.
  2. ^ Magallanes I, Parham JF, Santos GP, Velez-Juarbe J (2018). "A new tuskless walrus from the Miocene of Orange County, California, with comments on the diversity and taxonomy of odobenids". PeerJ. 6: e5708. doi:10.7717/peerj.5708. PMC 6188011. PMID 30345169.
  3. ^ Boessenecker RW, Churchill M (2013-01-16). "A reevaluation of the morphology, paleoecology, and phylogenetic relationships of the enigmatic walrus Pelagiarctos". PLOS ONE. 8 (1): e54311. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...854311B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054311. PMC 3546998. PMID 23342129.

Further reading

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