HOME --> CLASS MAMMALIA
--> ORDER CARNIVORA
--> SUBORDER CANIFORMIA
FAMILY Odobenidae
Author: | Allen, 1880. | Citation: | U.S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Territ., 12: ix, 5.. | Comments: | Trichecidae Gray (1821) and Rosmaridae Gill (1866) are invalid (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1959). The enigmatic walruses have been placed as: (1) the sister group to the otariids (Árnason, 1977; Árnason et al., 1995; Couturier and Dutrillaux, 1986; Dragoo and Honeycutt, 1997; Repenning and Tedford, 1977; Sarich, 1969a, b; Vrana et al., 1994); (2) in the family Otariidae (Barnes, 1989; Mitchell, 1975b); (3) the sister group to the phocids (Berta, 1994; Berta and Wyss, 1994; Wyss and Flynn, 1993); and finally (4) McKenna and Bell (1997) considered them a subfamily of Phocidae. Lento et al. (1995) believed the best answer was to leave the walrus as an independent family. Because of the uncertainty of the placement of this taxon, I have followed Rice (1998) who provided an excellent discussion of the various arrangements. |
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| Offspring: GENUS Odobenus SPECIES rosmarus SUBSPECIES rosmarus SUBSPECIES divergens SUBSPECIES laptevi | Synonyms:
Odobaeninae Orlov, 1931 Odontobænidae Elliot, 1905 Rosmaridae Gill, 1866 Thalattailurina Albrecht, 1879 Trichechoidea Giebel, 1855 Trichecidae J. E. Gray, 1821 Trichiphocinae J. A. Allen, 1870 Trichisina J. E. Gray, 1837 Trichophocacae J. A. Allen, 1880
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