The Walrus in New England

Allen, Glover M.

doi:10.2307/1374062

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…By 9,700 BP the species had entered the Central Canadian Arctic [8] . Thus, occupation of the MAR region by walrus was feasible between <12,880 BP ∼1750 [8] , [19] , [20] . It is not known whether occupation of the coast of southeastern Canada was continual over this ∼11,000 yr period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Radiocarbon dates for walrus specimens found around southeastern Canada are scattered throughout the period [8] , [27] , [63] , [64] , with a cluster of bones that date to ∼9,000–10,000 BP [27] . Historical records suggest that the walrus inhabited the area in large numbers between the late 16 th century and mid-18 th century [7] , [14] , [15] , [19] , [20] at which time they were extirpated. It is also not known whether the animals were seasonal or year-round inhabitants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because it was prized for its ivory-like tusks, thick hide and blubber [7] , it was heavily hunted during the 16 th –18 th centuries, particularly around Sable Island, Nova Scotia; the Magdalene Islands; Prince Edward Island; other Gulf of St. Lawrence islands; and off the coast of New Brunswick and Cape Breton [8] , [17] , [18] . The species is now extirpated from these areas and has not been common south of 55°N for ∼250 years [19] , [20] . Although there have been very occasional sightings of apparent strays in the region (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some data suggest that the Maritimes walrus was distinct from other Atlantic walrus. Although there are no living examples, numerous postglacial walrus specimens have been identified in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence [19] , [25] – [27] . C. R. Harington and the late F. H. Fay conducted preliminary analyses of 92 adult (72 male, 20 female) postglacial walrus from the Maritimes region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of the Extirpated Maritimes Walrus Using Morphological and Ancient DNA Analysis

2014

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Species biogeography is a result of complex events and factors associated with climate change, ecological interactions, anthropogenic impacts, physical geography, and evolution. To understand the contemporary biogeography of a species, it is necessary to understand its history. Specimens from areas of localized extinction are important, as extirpation of species from these areas may represent the loss of unique adaptations and a distinctive evolutionary trajectory. The walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) has a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the arctic and subarctic that once included the southeastern Canadian Maritimes region. However, exploitation of the Maritimes population during the 16th-18th centuries led to extirpation, and the species has not inhabited areas south of 55°N for ∼250 years. We examined genetic and morphological characteristics of specimens from the Maritimes, Atlantic (O. r. rosmarus) and Pacific (O. r. divergens) populations to test the hypothesis that the first group was distinctive. Analysis of Atlantic and Maritimes specimens indicated that most skull and mandibular measurements were significantly different between the Maritimes and Atlantic groups and discriminant analysis of principal components confirmed them as distinctive groups, with complete isolation of skull features. The Maritimes walrus appear to have been larger animals, with larger and more robust tusks, skulls and mandibles. The mtDNA control region haplotypes identified in Maritimes specimens were unique to the region and a greater average number of nucleotide differences were found between the regions (Atlantic and Maritimes) than within either group. Levels of diversity (h and π) were lower in the Maritimes, consistent with other studies of species at range margins. Our data suggest that the Maritimes walrus was a morphologically and genetically distinctive group that was on a different evolutionary path from other walrus found in the north Atlantic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of the Extirpated Maritimes Walrus Using Morphological and Ancient DNA Analysis

2014

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“…Family ODOBENIDAE Odobaenidae Allen, J., 1880, p. 5: Smirnov, 1929, p. 242: Ognev, 1935, p. 322. Odobenidae: Palmer, 1904: Allen, G., 1930, p. 139: Scheffer, 1958, p. 84: Bobrinsky and others, 1965, p. 168. Odobaeninae: Orlov, 1931.…”

Section: Suprageneric Diagnosesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Otarioid seals of the Neogene

Repenning¹,

Tedford²

1977

Professional Paper

180

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The otarioid seals originated in the North Pacific region and most of their history is centered in this area. They include four families: the extant Odobenidae (walruses) and Otariidae (fur seals and sea lions) and the extinct Desmatophocidae and Enaliarctidae. Early in their development, the odobenids dispersed through the Central American Seaway to the North Atlantic, where the living walrus evolved. By late Pliocene time, the odobenids had become extinct in the North Pacific but the modern walrus spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific by way of the Arctic Ocean in late Pleistocene time. The history of the odobenids is known back to the early middle Miocene, at which time they seem to have evolved out of the ancestral otarioid family, the Enaliarctidae. The odobenids were most 1 diverse in the North Pacific during the late Miocene when six genera belonging to two subfamilies are known. A new genus and species, Aiuukus cedrosensis, from the Almejas Formation of Baja California, is a privitive odobenid of the Subfamily Odobeninae. Three Pliocene and younger genera, including the living genus, are recognized in the Atlantic, but evolution in this area was essentially unidirectional toward modern walrus. The history of the otariid seals began in the late middle or early late Miocene when this family evolved out of the last ofthe Enaliarctidae. The otariids remained a family with little variety, and, relative to the odobenids, slight evolutionary change until the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene, more or less the time of extinction of the odobenids in the Pacific. During this period of little diversification, one new otariid genus, Thallassoleon, is recognized. This genus contains two new species: T. mexicanus, from the Almejas Formation of Baja California, and T. mac• nallyae, from the Drakes Bay Formation of Point Reyes, California. The otariids are today in their period of greatest diversification-there are seven living genera. By early Pliocene time, the otariids had dispersed to the South Pacific Ocean, whence during the Pleistocene, they spread to their present circumantarctic distribution. They have never reached the North Atlantic. The extinct desmatophocids evolved out of the enaliarctid group in the early Miocene and became most diverse in the middle Miocene. They are last know.n from rocks of late Miocene age, at about the time that the odobenids began to diversify. The desmatophocids seem nev~r to have left the North Pacific, but they are known from southern California to Alaska and from Japan. The Enaliarctidae were ancestral to the other three families and are largely unstudied. They were derived from primitive ursid land carnivores, presumably during the Oligocene, and may be described as flippered marine carnivores with heterodont dentition in which the premolar, carnassial, and molar teeth are differ

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