Pontolis
{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Geological range|11.608|5.332|Miocene-Pliocene}}
| image = Pontolis barroni LACM.jpg
| image_caption = Skull (LACM 162551) of P. barroni, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
| taxon = Pontolis
| authority = True, 1905
| type_species = {{extinct}}Pontolis magnus
| type_species_authority = True, 1905
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = *{{extinct}}P. magnus (True, 1905, type]
- {{extinct}}P. barroni Biewer, Velez-Juarbe & Parham, 2020
- {{extinct}}P. kohnoi Biewer, Velez-Juarbe & Parham, 2020
| synonyms = Pontoleon magnus True, 1905
}}
Pontolis is an extinct genus of large walrus. It contained three species, P. magnus, P. barroni, and P. kohnoi.{{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36942 |title=Pontolis |website=Fossilworks |access-date=17 December 2021 }}{{Cite journal|last1=Biewer|first1=Jacob N.|last2=Velez-Juarbe|first2=Jorge|last3=Parham|first3=James F.|date=2020-12-01|title=Insights on the Dental Evolution of Walruses Based on New Fossil Specimens from California|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2020.1833896|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=40|issue=5|pages=e1833896|doi=10.1080/02724634.2020.1833896|bibcode=2020JVPal..40E3896B |s2cid=228814992 |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription}}
Like all pinnipeds, Pontolis was a heavily built amphibious carnivore. Pontolis lived along the Pacific coast of North America along what is now the western coasts of California and Oregon between 11.608 and 5.332 million years ago, during the Miocene and Pliocene.
Description
The skull of Pontolis is {{cvt|60|cm}} long, surpassing skulls of any other prehistoric pinnipeds and twice as big as the skulls of modern male walruses.
{{cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mHw6DwAAQBAJ&dq=Gomphotaria+skull+47+cm&pg=PA110
| title = The Rise of Marine Mammals: 50 Million Years of Evolution
| publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press
| date = 2017
| access-date = 2022-08-21
| page = 110
| author = Annalisa Berta
| isbn = 9781421423258
}} This giant species was much larger than modern walrus, though like many other extinct walrus species, its upper canines did not develop into long tusks like those of the modern walrus. Pontolis reached more than {{cvt|4|m}} in body length,Morgan Churchill, Mark T. Clementz, Naoki Kohno. "Cope’s rule and the evolution of body size
in Pinnipedimorpha (Mammalia: Carnivora)". Evolution. 2015 Jan;69(1):201-15. doi:10.1111/evo.12560 rivaling the extant southern elephant seal as the largest pinniped
{{cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DeXEDwAAQBAJ&dq=largest+pinniped+%22pontolis%22&pg=PA17
| title = The Atlantic Walrus: Multidisciplinary Insights into Human-Animal Interactions
| publisher = Charlotte Cockle
| date = 2021
| access-date = 2022-08-21
| page = 17
| author = Xénia Keighley, Morten Tange Olsen, Peter Jordan, Sean P.A. Desjardins
| isbn = 9780128174319
}} and member of the order Carnivora of all time. Weight estimates for Pontolis range between {{convert|2000|to|4000|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.Valentin, T. Encyclopedia Largest Prehistoric Animals Vol.1 Vertebrates part1 Mammals ch.1 Carnivores - Hyaenidae, Mustelids and Viverrids Encyclopedia Largest prehistoric animals Vol.1 Vertebrates part1 Mammals ch.1 Carnivores -Mesonychids.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Pan-Pinnipedia|O.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q20817937}}
Category:Mammals described in 1905
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1905
Category:Prehistoric pinnipeds of North America
Category:Prehistoric carnivoran genera
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