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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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