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Neodobenia
Odobenidae is a family of pinnipeds. The only living 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. *†''Archaeodobenus'' *†''Prototaria'' *†''Proneotherium'' *†'' Nanodobenus'' *†'' Neotherium'' *†''Imagotaria'' *†''Kamtschatarctos'' *†''Pelagiarctos'' *†'' Pontolis'' *†'' Pseudotaria'' *†''Titanotaria'' *Clade Neodobenia **†''Gomphotaria'' **Subfamily Dusignathinae ***†'' Dusignathus'' **Subfamily Odobeninae ***†''Aivukus'' ***†'' Ontocetus'' ***†'' Pliopedia'' ***†'' Protodobenus'' ***†''Valenictus'' ***''Odobenus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fa ...'' In re-analyzing ''Pela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titanotaria
''Titanotaria'' is a genus of late, basal walrus from the Miocene of Orange County, California. Unlike much later odobenids, it lacked tusks. ''Titanotaria'' is known from an almost complete specimen which serves as the holotype for the only recognized species, ''Titanotaria orangensis'', it is the best preserved fossil walrus currently known. History and naming Although the holotype specimen (OCPC 11141) of ''Titanotaria'' had been discovered in 1993 and represents one of the most complete fossil walrus known, little attention was given to the material for over 20 years. The first mention of the fossils in peer-reviewed literature came in 2017 with Barboza and colleagues publishing a faunal list of the Oso Member of the Capistrano Formation, where ''Titanotaria'' had been found. Specifically, the fossilized bones were collected from the town of Lake Forest, Orange County, California, during the construction of the Saddleback Church. A full description followed a year after its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gomphotaria
''Gomphotaria'' is a genus of very large shellfish-eating dusignathine walrus found along the coast of what is now California, during the late Miocene. Description It was a huge-sized pinniped with skull length of around , surpassing only by '' Pontolis'', which had a skull of long. ''Gomphotaria'' had comparatively small eyes, increased upper and lower canines and four tusks, with one pair in the lower and upper jaws. According to wear on the tusks, ''G. pugnax'' hammered shellfish open, rather than simply sucking them out of their shells as do modern walruses. In terms of the postcranial skeleton, ''Gomphotaria'' and other dusignathine walruses were built more like sea lions than modern walrus. ''Gomphotaria'' is a prime example of the extreme diversity that walruses once exhibited. References Miocene pinnipeds Prehistoric carnivoran genera Prehistoric pinnipeds of North America Odobenids {{paleo-carnivora-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erignathus
The bearded seal (''Erignathus barbatus''), also called the square flipper seal, is a medium-sized pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean. It gets its generic name from two Greek words (''eri'' and ''gnathos'') that refer to its heavy jaw. The other part of its Linnaean name means bearded and refers to its most characteristic feature, the conspicuous and very abundant whiskers. When dry, these whiskers curl very elegantly, giving the bearded seal a "raffish" look. Bearded seals are the largest northern phocid. They have been found to weigh as much as with the females being the largest. However, male and female bearded seals are not very dimorphic. The only member of the genus ''Erignathus'', the bearded seal is unique in that it is an intermediate. Bearded seals belong to the family Phocidae which contains two subfamilies: Phocinae and Monachinae. The bearded seal possesses characteristics of both of these subfamilies. Fossils first described in 2002 indicat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monachus
The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Aegean Sea, the archipelago of Madeira and the Cabo Blanco area in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. It is believed to be the world's rarest pinniped species. This is the only species in the genus ''Monachus''. Description This species of seal grows from approximately long at birth up to an average of as adults, females slightly shorter than males. Males weigh an average of and females weigh , with overall weight ranging from . They are thought to live up to 45 years old; the average life span is thought to be 20 to 25 years old and reproductive maturity is reached at around age four. The monk seals' pups are about long and weigh around , their skin being covered by 1–1.5 centimeter-long, dark brown to black hair. On their bellies, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Callorhinus
''Callorhinus'' is a genus of sea lion. It contains the living northern fur seal ''(Callorhinus ursinus)'' as well as the extinct '' Callorhinus gilmorei'' and an unnamed species, both from the Pliocene and very beginning of the Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed .... ''Callorhinus'' may be a sister genus to the extinct giant otariid, '' Thalassoleon''. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q4412222 Mammal genera Mammal genera with one living species Eared seals Taxa named by John Edward Gray Mammals described in 1859 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desmatophoca
''Desmatophoca'' is an extinct genus of early pinniped that lived during the Miocene, and is named from the Greek "phoca", meaning seal. A taxon of the family Desmatophocidae, it shares some morphological similarities with modern true seals.Ray, C. (1976). Fossil Marine Mammals of Oregon. ''Systematic Zoology, 25''(4), 420-436. Two species are recognized: ''Desmatophoca oregonensis'' and ''Desmatophoca brachycephala''Berta, A. (1994). A New Species of Phocoid Pinniped Pinnarctidion from the Early Miocene of Oregon. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 14''(3), 405-413.''.'' Little information exists regarding ''Desmatophoca'', due to the small number of fossil samples obtained and identified. Unlike modern pinnipeds, ''Desmatophoca'' did not survive into the Holocene. There is some scientific debate as to whether any ''Desmatophoca'' species may have been present in the Oligocene, but without fossil samples obtained from this era, this is based primarily on conjecture. All s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allodesmus
''Allodesmus'' is an extinct genus of pinniped from the middle to late Miocene of California and Japan that belongs to the extinct pinniped family Desmatophocidae. Description and biology ''Allodesmus'' measured about long and weighed . ''Allodesmus'' had the specific anatomical features found in modern polygynous pinnipeds: sexual dimorphism, strong canines for fights between bulls and teeth with well-defined growth zones, a result from periodic fasting (in order to defend their harem, males would not take to the sea to feed during the breeding season). Taxonomy ''Allodesmus sinanoensis'' and ''A. packardi'' were previously assigned separate genera, ''Megagomphos'' and ''Brachyallodesmus'', respectively, but many authors questioned this generic distinction, and the cladistic analysis by Boessenecker and Churchill (2018) found no support for this generic scheme. '' Atopotarus'', referred to ''Allodesmus'' by some authors (e.g. Mitchell 1966), is distinct from ''Allodesmus'' b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pteronarctos
''Pteronarctos'' is a genus of basal pinnipediform from middle Miocene marine deposits in Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah .... Two species of ''Pteronarctos'' are known, ''P. goedertae'' and ''P. piersoni''. Although originally described as a member of Enaliarctidae, cladistic analyses place ''Pteronarctos'' as sister to pinnipeds, in the clade Pinnipediformes.J. Velez-Juarbe. 2017. Eotaria citrica, sp. nov., a new stem otariid from the “Topanga” formation of Southern California. PeerJ 5:e3022 References External links''Enaliarctos'' at The Paleobiology Database Miocene pinnipeds Prehistoric pinnipeds of North America Prehistoric carnivoran genera Fossil taxa described in 1988 {{paleo-carnivora-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enaliarctos
''Enaliarctos''From Greek , ''enalios'', of the sea; and , ''arktos'', bear, "referring to the arctoid, including ursid, Carnivora" (Mitchell & Tedford, 1973, p. 218). is an extinct genus of pinnipedimorph, and may represent the ancestor to all pinnipeds. Prior to the discovery of ''Puijila'', the five species in the genus ''Enaliarctos'' represented the oldest known pinnipedimorph fossils, having been recovered from late Oligocene and early Miocene (ca. 24–22 million years ago) strata of California and Oregon. Description It had a short tail and developed limbs with webbed feet. Unlike modern sea lions, it had a set of slicing carnassials; the presence of slicing teeth (rather than purely piercing teeth as in modern fish-eating pinnipeds) suggests that ''Enaliarctos'' needed to return to shore with prey items in order to masticate and ingest them. Still, ''Enaliarctos'' had some sea lion-like characteristics, such as large eyes, sensitive whiskers, and a specialized inner ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valenictus
''Valenictus'' 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 The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serv ... except for the two tusks. References Pliocene extinctions Prehistoric pinnipeds of North America Odobenids Prehistoric carnivoran genera Pliocene pinnipeds Pliocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1961 {{paleo-carnivora-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliopedia
''Pliopedia pacifica'' is an extinct species of walrus found in what is now Central Valley, California, United States, which lived during the late Miocene. It was an amphibious carnivore. Discovery The holotype specimen (USNM 13627) was collected in 1909 by Robert Anderson, and consists of pieces of both forelimbs. Known ''Pliopedia'' fossils include a humerus, pieces of radius and ulna from both forelimbs, metacarpals, metatarsals, and phalanges. They were discovered in the Paso Robles Formation of San Luis Obispo County, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the .... References Miocene pinnipeds Prehistoric carnivoran genera Prehistoric pinnipeds of North America Odobenids Fossil taxa described in 1921 {{paleo-carnivora-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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