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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFossils show that extinct walruses were more varied than the single living species, but the headline “new species of extinct walrus” can refer to two separate discoveries. A 2020 California study described three species dated to about 5.8–8.7 million years ago; a 2024 study named a North Atlantic species, Ontocetus posti, from fossils roughly two million years old. Their anatomy offers clues to changing teeth, tusks, jaws and feeding strategies—not a simple, fully mapped line to the modern walrus.
Which extinct walrus discovery does the headline mean?
There are two distinct studies behind this story. The California fossils described in 2020 represent three species from a much earlier period. The North Atlantic fossil described in 2024 is a separate species from a later period. They came from different places, lived millions of years apart and should not be treated as one discovery or a direct ancestor-to-descendant sequence.
| Discovery | Location and age | What the fossils suggest |
|---|---|---|
| Three species described in 2020: Pontolis barroni, Pontolis kohnoi and Osodobenus eodon | Orange County, California; NHMLAC reports an age of about 5.8–8.7 million years | Differences in teeth and tusks; Osodobenus eodon was specialized for bottom-feeding, while the two Pontolis species were more sea-lion-like in appearance. (NHMLAC, 2020) |
| Ontocetus posti, named in a 2024 study | North Atlantic fossils, including Suffolk, England, and Belgium; approximately two million years old | Its jaw anatomy suggests suction-feeding adaptations similar to those of the living walrus, evolved independently. (PeerJ, 2024; Natural History Museum, 2024) |
What did the California walrus fossils reveal?
A study by Jacob N. Biewer, Jorge Vélez-Juarbe and James F. Parham, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on November 16, 2020, described three extinct species: Pontolis barroni, Pontolis kohnoi and Osodobenus eodon. The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC) says the researchers examined 12 specimens collected from Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Cruz counties; the three newly described species were found in Orange County. (NHMLAC, 2020)
NHMLAC dates these species to about 5.8–8.7 million years ago, when the sea extended farther inland in Orange County and other parts of California. They lived in a marine environment that also included other pinnipeds, whales, dolphins and seacows. (NHMLAC, 2020)
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Different teeth, tusks and feeding adaptations
The California fossils show that ancient walruses did not all share the same dental and feeding anatomy. NHMLAC describes Osodobenus eodon as the most primitive walrus with tusks and as specialized for bottom-feeding. The two Pontolis species looked more like sea lions. The announcement says a more modern-looking tusked walrus appears around five million years ago, but that timing does not make any one of these three species a proven direct ancestor of the living walrus. (NHMLAC, 2020)
Jorge Vélez-Juarbe, Associate Curator of Marine Mammals at NHMLAC, said of the California fossils: “The discovery of these new fossils, some representing species that lived alongside each other, shows us that the evolutionary history of walruses is far from being completely understood,” (NHMLAC, 2020)
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What does Ontocetus posti tell us about walrus evolution?
The 2024 study named Ontocetus posti from Lower Pleistocene fossils in the North Atlantic region. A paper in PeerJ describes a feeding adaptation similar to that of the living walrus, Odobenus rosmarus, that evolved independently. Its argument centers on the mandible—the lower jaw—and what its form implies about suction feeding. (PeerJ, 2024)
The Natural History Museum in London identifies fossils from Suffolk, England, and Belgium and gives the species an approximate age of two million years. Its account describes a mix of ancient and modern walrus characteristics and explains the proposed suction-feeding anatomy. This behavior was not observed directly: it is an interpretation of fossil jaw structure. (Natural History Museum, 2024)
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How did walruses evolve?
Walruses belong to Pinnipedia, the group that also includes seals and sea lions. A 2018 review places the oldest definitive pinniped fossils at approximately 30.6–23 million years ago, while noting uncertainty in some fossil relationships. That broad date concerns pinniped history; it is not the age of either walrus discovery described here. (Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 2018)
Across the California and North Atlantic findings, the clearest evolutionary lesson is variation over time and across regions. Fossils preserve differences in teeth, tusks and jaws, from bottom-feeding specializations to anatomy interpreted as suited to suction feeding. These findings add pieces to walrus evolutionary history, but they do not resolve every relationship or establish a complete lineage leading to the living species.
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What did extinct walruses eat?
The available accounts support specific, limited conclusions rather than one diet for all extinct walruses. NHMLAC describes Osodobenus eodon as specialized for bottom-feeding. For Ontocetus posti, researchers infer suction-feeding ability from the lower jaw, similar in broad function to the living walrus; that is an anatomical inference, not a direct record of what an individual ate. The cited summaries do not establish a detailed menu for these species.
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