Odobenidae is a family of pinnipeds, of which the only extant species is the walrus (Odobenus rosmarus). In the past, 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
In re-analyzing Pelagiarctos, Boessenecker et al. (2013) proposed the phylogenetic relationships of Odobenidae as follows (this analysis excluded Archaeodobenus, Titanotaria, Nanodobenus, and Pliopedia; and included Enaliarctos, Pteronarctos, Allodesmus, Desmatophoca, Callorhinus, Monachus, and Erignathus):
References
Further reading