Pontolis kohnoi is an extinct giant walrus of the genus Pontolis, described in 2020 by Biewer and colleagues and found in California. It comes from the Oso Member of the Capistrano Formation in Orange County, where it lived alongside the walruses Pontolis magnus, Titanotaria orangensis, Osodobenus eodon and Gomphotaria pugnax. The Paleobiology Database places its record in the Messinian stage of the late Miocene, between about 7.2 and 5.3 million years ago. Members of Pontolis were heavily built amphibious carnivores with skulls about 60 centimetres long and bodies of more than 4 metres, and their upper canines did not develop into long tusks like those of the living walrus.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Living or Extinct Conservation Status Body Size Band Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Pontolis (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 Pontolis (Wikipedia)Lead, where it livesQuote, Lead, where it lives
Pontolis lived along the Pacific coast of North America along what is now the western coasts of California and Oregon
Sources
1. Pontolis (Wikipedia)
Lead
Pontolis is an extinct genus of large walrus.
Lead, where it lives
Pontolis lived along the Pacific coast of North America along what is now the western coasts of California and Oregon
Lead, diet
Like all pinnipeds, Pontolis was a heavily built amphibious carnivore.
Description
Pontolis reached more than 4 m (13 ft) in body length, rivaling the extant southern elephant seal as the largest pinniped
View the Source2. List of fossil pinnipedimorphs (Wikipedia)
LeadQuote, Lead
Pinnipeds are marine mammals that evolved from arctoid carnivorans that includes seals, eared seals, and walruses.
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