Odobenidae

Odobenidae is a family of pinnipeds, of which the only extant species is the walrus. In the past, the group was much more diverse, and includes more than a dozen fossil genera.

Odobenidae

Ansgar Walk · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
walrusPBDB
Sits inside
PinnipediaPBDB
Diet
insectivorePBDB
Life habit
amphibiousPBDB, for Pinnipedia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Pinnipedia

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 406 occurrencesMiocene — about 115 of 406 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 74 of 406 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 133 of 406 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–18 Mya — about 1 occurrence18–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–16 Mya — about 3 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 6 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 6 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 4 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 3 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 9 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 11 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 11 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 11 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 11 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 11 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 9 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 9 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 18 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 21 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 22 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 23 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 23 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 19 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 167 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

406 occurrences of Odobenidae on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

406 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

78 formations

Monterey — 33.60°N, 117.70°WMonterey — 34.60°N, 120.44°WMonterey — 33.60°N, 117.33°WMonterey — 33.78°N, 118.39°WMonterey — 33.64°N, 117.63°WSanta Margarita — 37.08°N, 122.07°WSanta Margarita — 37.06°N, 122.04°WSanta Margarita — 37.00°N, 122.00°WSanta Margarita — 35.13°N, 118.82°WSanta Margarita — 36.97°N, 122.06°WSanta Margarita — 36.80°N, 121.79°WYorktown — 37.24°N, 76.51°WYorktown — 37.03°N, 76.63°WYorktown — 37.20°N, 76.90°WYorktown — 36.77°N, 76.37°WYorktown — 37.22°N, 76.96°WYorktown — 36.45°N, 77.09°WYorktown — 36.33°N, 77.58°WYorktown — 35.93°N, 77.57°WYorktown — 35.91°N, 77.32°WYorktown — 35.60°N, 77.37°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WYorktown — 35.38°N, 77.99°WYorktown — 35.10°N, 77.03°WYorktown — 35.63°N, 77.34°WYorktown — 34.36°N, 77.87°WYorktown — 34.97°N, 76.81°WPurisima — 36.95°N, 122.04°WPurisima — 37.47°N, 122.45°WPurisima — 38.06°N, 122.97°WPurisima — 37.53°N, 122.52°WPurisima — 37.31°N, 122.40°WPurisima — 36.97°N, 121.95°WPurisima — 36.95°N, 122.05°WCapistrano — 33.44°N, 117.62°WCapistrano — 33.66°N, 117.67°WCapistrano — 33.63°N, 117.65°WCapistrano — 33.65°N, 117.69°WTamiami — 27.70°N, 82.50°WTamiami — 27.50°N, 82.50°WTamiami — 27.33°N, 82.52°WTamiami — 27.37°N, 82.45°WTamiami — 27.08°N, 82.45°WTamiami — 26.98°N, 82.21°WTamiami — 26.95°N, 82.35°WPeace River — 27.90°N, 81.80°WPeace River — 27.76°N, 81.83°WPeace River — 27.81°N, 81.91°WTemblor — 35.47°N, 118.91°WTemblor — 35.30°N, 118.50°WWilson Grove — 38.34°N, 122.84°WIjmuiden Ground — 52.67°N, 2.83°EIjmuiden Ground — 53.17°N, 3.33°EIjmuiden Ground — 52.44°N, 3.05°EAlmejas — 28.11°N, 115.18°WRosarito Beach — 32.12°N, 116.80°WShimonopporo — 43.15°N, 141.51°EShimonopporo — 42.81°N, 141.54°ELillo — 51.21°N, 4.43°EGoose Creek — 33.00°N, 80.18°WGoose Creek — 32.77°N, 79.92°WGoose Creek — 32.43°N, 80.67°WNorwich Crag — 52.24°N, 1.05°ENorwich Crag — 52.35°N, 1.53°ENorwich Crag — 52.18°N, 1.35°ESan Mateo — 33.20°N, 117.37°WRed Crag — 51.96°N, 1.35°ERed Crag — 52.05°N, 1.25°EEmpire — 43.39°N, 124.18°WEmpire — 42.83°N, 124.56°WTorgugas — 27.15°N, 114.30°WAcredale — 36.79°N, 76.17°WDeguynos — 32.83°N, 115.97°WDeguynos — 33.03°N, 116.05°WShimo — 35.51°N, 130.45°EShimo — 35.34°N, 139.63°EWestkapelle Ground — 51.62°N, 3.88°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Odobenidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 54 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 200 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Odobenidae and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Odobenidae and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,466 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 365 sites for Odobenidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

159 references

Each of the 406 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 147 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Odobenidae

Credit
Ansgar Walk
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Odobenidae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPinnipedia through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Allen 1880