Odobenidae

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
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

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

• †Archaeodobenus
• †Prototaria
• †Proneotherium
• †Nanodobenus
• †Neotherium
• †Imagotaria
• †Kamtschatarctos
• †Pelagiarctos
• †Pontolis
• †Pseudotaria
• †Titanotaria
• Clade Neodobenia^[2]
  • †Gomphotaria
  • Subfamily Dusignathinae
    • †Dusignathus
  • Subfamily Odobeninae
    • †Aivukus
    • †Ontocetus
    • †Pliopedia
    • †Protodobenus
    • †Valenictus
    • Odobenus

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 Allodesmus gracilis † Desmatophoca oregonensis † Otariidae Callorhinus ursinus Phocidae Monachus monachus Erignathus barbatus 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 † Ontocetus † Valenictus chulavistensis † Odobenus rosmarus

References

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

• Jouventin P, Cornet A (1981-01-29). "The Sociobiology of Pinnipeds". In Rosenblatt JS, Hinde RA, Beer C, Busnell MC (eds.). Advances in the Study of Behavior. Vol. 11. Academy Press. p. 122. ISBN 0-12-004511-7.