PBDB Taxon

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Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Pontolis

Mammalia - Carnivora - Odobenidae

Taxonomy

Pontolis was named by True (1905) [Sepkoski's age data: T Mi-u]. Its type is Pontoleon magnus.

It was considered a nomen dubium by Repenning and Tedford (1977).

It was assigned to Otariidae by Kellogg (1922), Hay (1930), Mitchell (1968); to Imagotarinae by Horikawa (1995); to Dusignathina by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Carnivora by Sepkoski (2002); to Odobaenidae by Carroll (1988), Kohno (2006); to Imagotariinae by Barnes (1988), Barnes (1989), Kohno et al. (1995), Barnes (2008); to Dusignathinae by Deméré (1994), Berta (2002), Deméré et al. (2003), Berta (2009); and to Odobenidae by Boessenecker and Churchill (2013), Berta (2017), Magallanes et al. (2018), Berta (2018), Berta et al. (2018), Biewer et al. (2020).

Species

P. barroni, P. kohnoi, P. magnus

Synonyms

Pontoleon was named by True (1907). It is not extant. Its type is Pontolis magnus.

It was replaced with Pontolis by True (1905), True (1909), McKenna and Bell (1997).

It was assigned to Otariidae by True (1907), Zittel (1925).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1905	Pontolis True p. 253
1907	Pontoleon True
1922	Pontolis Kellogg p. 106
1925	Pontoleon Zittel p. 78
1930	Pontolis Hay p. 558
1968	Pontolis Mitchell p. 1897
1988	Pontolis Barnes p. 2
1988	Pontolis Carroll
1989	Pontolis Barnes p. 23
1994	Pontolis Deméré p. 116
1995	Pontolis Horikawa p. 322 figs. Table 4
1995	Pontolis Kohno et al. p. 305
1997	Pontolis McKenna and Bell p. 257
2002	Pontolis Berta p. 923
2002	Pontolis Sepkoski
2003	Pontolis Deméré et al. p. 49 figs. Fig. 3.3
2006	Pontolis Kohno p. 418
2008	Pontolis Barnes p. 533
2009	Pontolis Berta p. 863
2013	Pontolis Boessenecker and Churchill p. 10 fig. 8
2017	Pontolis Berta p. 156
2018	Pontolis Berta p. 714 figs. Fig. 3
2018	Pontolis Berta et al. p. 217 figs. Fig. 6
2018	Pontolis Magallanes et al. p. 30 figs. Fig. 14
2020	Pontolis Biewer et al.

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes

Rank	Name	Author
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Ferae	()
—	Carnivoramorpha	Wyss and Flynn 1993
—	Carnivoraformes	Flynn et al.
order	Carnivora
suborder	Caniformia	Kretzoi 1943
infraorder	Canoidea	(Simpson 1931)
superfamily	Arctoidea	Flower 1869
—	Panpinnipedia	Wolsan et al. 2020
—	Pinnipedimorpha
—	Pinnipedia	()
family	Odobenidae	()
genus	Pontolis

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Pontolis True 1905

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†Pontolis barroni Biewer et al. 2020

†Pontolis kohnoi Biewer et al. 2020

†Pontolis magnus True 1907

Invalid names: Pontoleon True 1907 [synonym]

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
J. N. Biewer et al. 2020	Large odobenid with elongated rostrum and the following odobenid synapomorphies: large anterior narial opening with thick margins and with dorsoventrally elliptical outline (c. 2[1]); pterygoid strut dorsoventrally thick and laterally broad (c. 13[2]); antorbital process prominent on frontal and maxilla (c. 15[1]); large epitympanic recess (c. 23[1]); bony tentor- ium appressed to petrosal (c. 29[1]); diameter of medial lip of humeral trochlea greater than distal capitulum (c. 84[1]); scapho- lunar with well-formed pit for magnum (c. 87[1]); ‘V’-shaped nasal/frontal suture (c. 4[1]), marked interorbital constriction (c. 17[1]). With the exception of females of Po. barroni, Pontolis can be differentiated from all other basal odobenids by having a mandible with an enlarged digastric insertion (c. 46[1]). It can be differentiated from all other basal odobenids except Os. eodon by having thin postcanine tooth enamel (c. 62[1]). It can be differentiated from other basal odobenids except I. downsi and T. orangensis by having an enlarged mastoid process (c. 33 [1]). It can be differentiated from other basal odobenids except I. downsi by having a shallow glenoid fossa (c. 26[1]). It can be dif- ferentiated from Os. eodon and Neodobenia by having a small infraorbital foramen (c. 6[0], excluding G. pugnax), double or bilobed p2 and P3 roots (c. 72[0], 74[1]), a posteriomedially placed protocone shelf (c. 75[1]), a double-rooted m1 and M2 (c. 79[0], 80[0]), and retaining an M1 (c. 81[0]).

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteuc

Ontogeny:

modification of partsuc

Environment:

marinef

Locomotion:

actively mobilec

Life habit:

amphibiousf

Diet:

carnivoref

Reproduction:

viviparousf

Created:

2011-05-21 01:16:23

Modified:

2011-05-20 10:16:23

Source: f = family, c = class, uc = unranked clade

References: Carreño and Cronin 1993, Hendy et al. 2009, Kohno et al. 1995

Age range: base of the Tortonian to the top of the Messinian or 11.62000 to 5.33300 Ma

Collections (10 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	USA (Oregon)	Pontoleon magnus (57128) P. magnus (57057)
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	USA (California)	Otariidae indet. (52212) P. magnus (215607) P. sp. (13300 106202 225297) P. sp., P. barroni (215601)
Tortonian - Piacenzian	11.62 - 2.588	USA (California)	P. sp. (188305)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	USA (California)	P. kohnoi (215603)