Pelagiarctos thomasi is a fossil walrus that lived during the Middle Miocene, about 13 to 15 million years ago. Its remains have been found only in the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed in Kern County, California, and consist of a handful of partial mandibles. Lawrence Barnes described it in 1988 as an eared seal of the family Otariidae, but it is now usually considered a basal member of the walrus family. The mandibles are thick and the cheek teeth have two roots, which points to a large bite force, and the size of the jaw suggests an overall length of about 2.5 to 3 metres. Early studies saw it as a predator of other large marine vertebrates, but a 2014 study found that it was not an apex predator and enamel structure points to a generalist diet.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Living or Extinct Conservation Status Body Size Band Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Pelagiarctos (Wikipedia)
In Biome
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Pelagiarctos (Wikipedia)Lead, where it livesQuote, Lead, where it lives
Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, in Kern County, California
Sources
1. Pelagiarctos (Wikipedia)
Lead
Its fossilised remains have been found in the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, in Kern County, California.
Environment
is interpreted to have been laid down in a coastal environment off the shore of the Miocene North Pacific
Lead, where it lives
Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, in Kern County, California
Paleobiology
Pelagiarctos most likely preyed upon the pinniped Allodesmus
Anatomy
the size of the dentary suggests an overall length of approx. 2.5
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