Odobenocetops

Odobenocetops is an extinct genus of toothed whales known from Late Miocene fossils in Peru. Its walrus-like skull and greatly enlarged tusks distinguish it from other cetaceans.

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Cetacea: Cetacea is the mammalian order comprising whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Odobenocetops belongs to this order despite its walrus-like appearance.
Skull: The skull is the bony structure that encloses the brain and supports the face and jaws. Odobenocetops is reconstructed chiefly from distinctive skull fossils.
Odobenocetops peruvianus: Odobenocetops peruvianus is a species of Odobenocetops described from Late Miocene fossils in Peru. It is the type species anchoring the genus’s original description.
Fossil reconstruction: Fossil reconstruction is the inference of an extinct organism’s anatomy and appearance from preserved remains. Much of Odobenocetops’s body and soft-tissue anatomy remains unknown.
Odontoceti: Odontoceti is the cetacean suborder comprising toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Its teeth place Odobenocetops among toothed cetaceans.
Canine tooth: A canine tooth is a pointed tooth positioned between the incisors and cheek teeth. Its enlarged canines formed the genus’s conspicuous tusks.
Odobenocetops leptodon: Odobenocetops leptodon is a second named species of Odobenocetops from Peru. Its fossil anatomy broadens the known variation in tusk form.
Paleoecology: Paleoecology studies interactions between ancient organisms and their environments. Its feeding habitat and ecological role must be inferred from fossils and associated deposits.
Walrus: The walrus is a large pinniped whose adults bear elongated upper canine teeth called tusks. Its resemblance to walruses is superficial; it was a cetacean, not a pinniped.
Sexual dimorphism: Sexual dimorphism is a difference in physical traits between males and females of a species. The tusks differ in length and orientation between the two named species, raising questions about their biological roles.