PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Odobeninae

Mammalia - Carnivora - Odobenidae

Taxonomy

Odobeninae was named by Allen (1880) [Originally the family Odobenidae.]. It is extant.

It was assigned to Otariidae by Mitchell (1968), Tedford (1976), Barnes (1979), Barnes (1989) and Vidal (1991); to Phocidae by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Odobaenidae by Repenning and Tedford (1977), Deméré (1994), Rice (1998), Deméré et al. (2003) and Kohno (2006); to Neodobenia by Magallanes et al. (2018) and Biewer et al. (2020); and to Odobenidae by Fay (1985), Horikawa (1995), Kohno et al. (1995), Berta (2002), Koretsky and Barnes (2006), Barnes (2008), Kohno and Ray (2008), Berta (2009), Fulton and Strobeck (2010), Berta (2017), Boessenecker (2017), Boessenecker et al. (2018), Berta et al. (2018), Boisville et al. (2024) and Boessenecker et al. (2024).

Subtaxa

Aivukus, Odobenini, Pliopedia, Protodobenus

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1880	Odobeninae Allen p. 5
1968	Odobeninae Mitchell p. 1897
1976	Odobeninae Tedford p. 372
1977	Odobeninae Repenning and Tedford p. 8
1979	Odobeninae Barnes p. 8
1985	Odobeninae Fay p. 1
1989	Odobeninae Barnes p. 3
1991	Odobeninae Vidal p. 6
1994	Odobeninae Deméré p. 77
1995	Odobeninae Horikawa p. 322 figs. Table 4
1995	Odobeninae Kohno et al. p. 113
1997	Odobeninae McKenna and Bell p. 254
1998	Odobeninae Rice
2002	Odobeninae Berta p. 923
2003	Odobeninae Deméré et al. p. 49 figs. Fig. 3.3
2006	Odobeninae Kohno p. 418
2006	Odobeninae Koretsky and Barnes p. 145
2008	Odobeninae Barnes p. 534
2008	Odobeninae Kohno and Ray p. 44
2009	Odobeninae Berta p. 863
2010	Odobeninae Fulton and Strobeck p. 817 figs. Figure 1
2017	Odobeninae Berta p. 156
2017	Odobeninae Boessenecker p. 2
2018	Odobeninae Berta et al. p. 217 figs. Fig. 6
2018	Odobeninae Boessenecker et al. p. 282
2018	Odobeninae Magallanes et al. p. 30 figs. Fig. 14
2020	Odobeninae Biewer et al. figs. Figure 2
2024	Odobeninae Boessenecker et al. p. 5
2024	Odobeninae Boisville et al.

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia

Rank	Name	Author
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Ferae	()
—	Carnivoramorpha	Wyss and Flynn 1993
—	Carnivoraformes	Flynn et al.
order	Carnivora
suborder	Caniformia	Kretzoi 1943
infraorder	Canoidea	(Simpson 1931)
superfamily	Arctoidea	Flower 1869
—	Panpinnipedia	Wolsan et al. 2020
—	Pinnipedimorpha
—	Pinnipedia	()
family	Odobenidae	()
subfamily	Odobeninae
subfamily	Odobeninae

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Subfm. Odobeninae Allen 1880

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G. †Aivukus Repenning and Tedford 1977

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†Aivukus cedrosensis Repenning and Tedford 1977

Tr. Odobenini Allen 1880

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G. Odobenus Brisson 1762 [walrus]

†Odobenus mandanoensis Tomida 1989

†Odobenus obesus antiquus Kardas 1965

Odobenus rosmarus Linnaeus 1758 [walrus]

Odobenus rosmarus divergens Illiger 1815

Invalid names: Trichechus cookii Fremerij 1831 [synonym]

Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus Pallas 1811

Invalid names: Hemicaulodon effodiens Cope 1869 [synonym], Odobenus virginianus De Kay 1842 [synonym], Trichechus orientalis Dybowski 1922 [synonym], Trichechus virginianus Dekay 1842 [synonym]

Invalid names: Hemicaulodon Cope 1869 [synonym], Odobenotherium Gratiolet 1858 [synonym], Rosmarus Brunnich 1772 [synonym], Trichechus Linnaeus 1766 [synonym], Trichechus obesus Gill 1866 [nomen nudum]

G. †Ontocetus Leidy 1859

†Ontocetus emmonsi Leidy 1859

Invalid names: Alachtherium africanum Geraads 1997 [synonym], Alachtherium antverpiensis Rutten 1907 [synonym], Alachtherium cretsii Du Bus 1867 [synonym], Prorosmarus alleni Berry and Gregory 1906 [synonym], Trichecodon huxleyi Lankester 1865 [synonym]

†Ontocetus posti Boisville et al. 2024

Invalid names: Alachtherium Du Bus 1867 [synonym], Prorosmarus Berry and Gregory 1906 [synonym], Trichecodon Lankester 1865 [synonym], Trichecodon koninckii Van Beneden 1871 [nomen dubium]

G. †Valenictus Mitchell 1961

†Valenictus chulavistensis Deméré 1994

†Valenictus imperialensis Mitchell 1961

†Valenictus sheperdi Boessenecker et al. 2024

Invalid names: Odobenina McKenna and Bell 1997 [empty]

G. †Pliopedia Kellogg 1921

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†Pliopedia pacifica Kellogg 1921

G. †Protodobenus Horikawa 1995

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†Protodobenus japonicus Horikawa 1995

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteuc

Ontogeny:

modification of partsuc

Environment:

marinef

Locomotion:

actively mobilec

Life habit:

amphibiousf

Diet:

carnivoref

Reproduction:

viviparousf

Created:

2011-05-21 01:16:23

Modified:

2011-05-20 10:16:23

Source: f = family, c = class, uc = unranked clade

References: Carreño and Cronin 1993, Hendy et al. 2009, Kohno et al. 1995

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Serravallian to the top of the Holocene or 13.82000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 11.62 Ma

Collections (281 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Oldest occurrences
Miocene - Pliocene	23.03 - 2.588	Netherlands	Alachtherium sp., Trichechus huxleyi (53929)
Neogene	23.03 - 2.58	USA (Florida)	Ontocetus emmonsi (77598 77599)
Neogene	23.03 - 2.58	USA (Georgia)	Ontocetus emmonsi (77597)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.62	Netherlands	Alachterium cretsii (75152)
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	USA (California)	Odobeninae indet. (50069)
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	Belgium (Antwerpen)	Alachterium cretsii, Trichecodon koninckii (66960)
Tortonian - Piacenzian	11.62 - 2.588	USA (California)	Odobeninae indet. (188305)
Late/Upper Miocene	11.608 - 5.333	Netherlands	Alachtherium sp. (74896)
Late/Upper Miocene - Late/Upper Pliocene	11.608 - 2.588	Mexico (Baja California Sur)	Aivukus cedrosensis (59149)
Late/Upper Hemphillian	10.3 - 4.9	USA (Florida)	Ontocetus emmonsi (60036) Trichecodon huxleyi (18532 18595)
Late/Upper Hemphillian - Zanclean	10.3 - 3.6	USA (Florida)	Trichecodon huxleyi (18535)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	USA (California)	Odobeninae indet. (233253)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	Mexico (Baja California)	Aivukus cedrosensis (45458)
Messinian - Zanclean	7.246 - 3.6	USA (California)	Odobenini indet. (77499)
Messinian - Early/Lower Pleistocene	7.246 - 0.781	Netherlands	Odobenus sp., Ontocetus emmonsi (189573)
Early/Lower Pliocene	5.333 - 3.6	Japan (Nagano)	Alachtherium sp. (156221)
Early/Lower Pliocene	5.333 - 3.6	USA (Virginia)	Ontocetus emmonsi (57908)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	Japan (Fukushima)	Odobeninae indet. (220456) Odobenus sp. (75426)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	USA (South Carolina)	Ontocetus emmonsi (77594)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	Japan (Hokkaido)	Odobenus sp. (45803)