Dusignathus seftoni is an extinct walrus named by Thomas Deméré in 1994 from specimens recovered during a paleontological mitigation project in southern California. The material includes an immature skull, a large mandible and several postcranial elements from the Pliocene San Diego Formation. Like the rest of its genus it belongs to the Dusignathinae, walruses that carried enlarged canine tusks on both the upper and the lower jaws, unlike the modern walrus, which has tusks only on the upper jaw. The Paleobiology Database holds three collections of this species, all from California, dated to between about 3.6 and 2.6 million years ago.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Living or Extinct Conservation Status Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Dusignathus (Wikipedia)
In Biome
Marine, Biomes Source List of fossil pinnipedimorphs (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Dusignathus (Wikipedia)Discovery and namingQuote, Discovery and naming
specimens recovered during a paleontological mitigation project in southern California
Sources
1. List of fossil pinnipedimorphs (Wikipedia)
LeadQuote, Lead
Pinnipeds are marine mammals that evolved from arctoid carnivorans that includes seals, eared seals, and walruses.
2. Dusignathus (Wikipedia)
Lead
Dusignathus is an extinct genus of walrus belonging to the family Odobenidae.
Discovery and naming
specimens recovered during a paleontological mitigation project in southern California
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