-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email Walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus ) are distinct for their massive, long tusks and fuzzy mustache-like faces, but a recently discovered extinct species looks slightly different from the creature that chilled with Alice in Wonderland . Imagine a walrus-like creature with dentition remarkably similar to modern walruses: A quartet of post-canine teeth, a large lower canine tooth and a short, fused vertical midline on their lower jaw. Related Mongeese are some of the only animals that go to war.
Scientists could soon find out why It may look like a walrus, but the newly-discovered Ontocetus posti is actually an ancient beast. As reported by paleontologists led by the University of Tsukuba's Dr. Mathieu Boisville in the journal PeerJ Life & Environment, fossils of the primordial pinniped were initially believed to be a different extinct walrus predecessor, Ontocetus emmonsi, after being discovered both in Antwerp, Belgium and Norwich in the United Kingdom.
Upon further scientific analysis, however, the researchers determined that the walrus' tooth structure distinguishes it from any previously known extinct species — yet are remarkably similar to surviving walruses. Specifically, "These features include the presence of four post-canine teeth, a larger lower canine, and a fused and short mandibular symphysis," according to a press release . Though its teeth were different, the ancient walrus evolved separately from O.
rosmarus , an example of co.