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Odobenus

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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.

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