Odobenidae Explained

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.

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]

Further reading

• Book: Jouventin P, Cornet A . The Sociobiology of Pinnipeds . Rosenblatt JS, Hinde RA, Beer C, Busnell MC . Advances in the Study of Behavior. https://books.google.com/books?id=LrLC-kBAjPMC&q=odebenidae&pg=PA122. 122. 11. Academy Press. 0-12-004511-7. 1981-01-29.

Notes and References

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