Walruses

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]

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