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NTamura — Enaliarctos mealsi
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Published: 2020-06-28 05:54:53 +0000 UTC; Views: 2107; Favourites: 62; Downloads: 0
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Description
Enaliarctos mealsi Mitchell & Tedford, 1973
Systematics: Mammalia Carnivora Pinnipeda Enaliarctidae
Size: 1.5 m
Type Horizon and Locality: Late Oligocene, Pyramid Hill Member, Jewett Formation (Chattian), Kern County, California, US
Type Specimen: LACM 4321, cranial fragment
Until the discovery in 2009 of the otter-like Puijila, Enaliarctos ("bear of the sea") was considered the oldest known and most archaic pinniped and the probable ancestor of seals, sea lions and walruses. It was already well adapted for an aquatic life and used both forelimbs and hindlimbs for swimming. A nearly complete skeleton of the type species, E. mealsi has been described in 1989.
June 27, 2020
References:
Berta, A., Ray, C. E., & Wyss, A. R. (1989). Skeleton of the oldest known pinniped, Enaliarctos mealsi. Science, 244(4900), 60-62.
Mitchell, E., & Tedford, R. H. (1973). The Enaliarctinae: a new group of extinct aquatic Carnivora and a consideration of the origin of the Otariidae. Bulletin of the AMNH; v. 151, article 3.
