Nature Atlas

How Nature Works
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Taxa

Odobenus

Mammal Genera

Odobenus is a genus of pinnipeds containing a single living species, the walrus, the only extant member of the family Odobenidae. Walruses are characterized by prominent tusks and whiskers and considerable bulk, with Pacific males exceeding 2,000 kilograms, making them the third largest pinniped species. The genus has a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas, split into an Atlantic subspecies and a Pacific subspecies, and forages in shallow waters above the continental shelf for benthic bivalve molluscs, making it a keystone species of the Arctic marine region.

Facts
Taxonomic Rank
Genus 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Walrus
Taxonomic rank (Wikipedia confirms the entity; rank from slug/structure-wave classification)View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.