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''Nanodobenus'' is an extinct genus of 
pinniped
Pinnipeds (pronounced ), commonly known as seals, are a widely range (biology), distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammal, marine mammals. They comprise the extant taxon, extant family (biology ...
that lived approximately 15.97 to 7.246 mya during the Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...
in what is now Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...
, Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
. It belonged to the family Odobenidae
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'', ...
, the only extant species of which is the walrus
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 f ...
.
Discovery
''N. arandai'' is known from a partially complete leftmandible
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bon ...
and a right calcaneum
In humans and many other primates, the calcaneus (; from the Latin ''calcaneus'' or ''calcaneum'', meaning heel) or heel bone is a bone of the tarsus of the foot which constitutes the heel. In some other animals, it is the point of the hock.
...
bone, discovered in the Torgugas Formation in Mexico.
Description
''Nanodobenus'' were more similar in appearance to modernfur seal
Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds belonging to the subfamily Arctocephalinae in the family ''Otariidae''. They are much more closely related to sea lions than Earless seal, true seals, and share with them external ears (pinnae), r ...
s and sea lion
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...
s than walruses. They lacked the long tusks of walruses, and were more slender and smaller than their modern relatives.
Despite the general increase in body size of odobenids from the Miocene to Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58basal species of odobenid.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q67153819 Odobenids Prehistoric pinnipeds of North America Prehistoric carnivoran genera Prehistoric monotypic mammal genera