AnAge entry for Odobenus rosmarus

Classification (HAGRID: 02207)

Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Carnivora
                Family: Odobenidae
                    Genus: Odobenus
Species: Odobenus rosmarus
Common name: Walrus
Synonyms: Phoca rosmarus, Rosmarus arcticus

Maximum longevity: Not yet established
Observations: In the wild, walrus have been estimated to live over 40 years [0542]. Their longevity in captivity has not been studied in detail and hence information on ageing is limited. One wild born specimen was about 30.6 years old when it died in captivity [0671]. Atherosclerosis was described in a 25 year-old captive animal [0555].

No information on metabolism is available.

[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
[0443] Ronald Nowak (2003), Walker's Marine Mammals of the World
[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0555] Gruber et al. (2002), Atherosclerosis with multifocal myocardial infarction in a Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens Illiger) (PubMed)
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0538] Don Wilson and Sue Ruff (1999), The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals
[0441] William Burt et al. (1998), A Field Guide to Mammals
[0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
[0542] Bernhard Grzimek (1990), Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals
[0680] Wootton (1987), The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat, and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction
[0573] David Macdonald (1985), The Encyclopedia of Mammals
[0731] Zullinger et al. (1984), Fitting sigmoid equations to mammalian growth curves