New arrival – walrus skull

(Odobenus rosmarus Linnaeus, 1758)

The osteological collection of the museum has been replenished with a new exhibit. Arkady Anatolyevich Kibalchich donated to the museum the skull of an adult male walrus, which he himself caught in 1985 in Chukotka. Arkady Anatolyevich is a famous zoologist, a former employee of the marine mammal laboratory of VNIRO (All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography), and a specialist in walruses. He is a candidate of biological sciences. He defended his dissertation on the topic “Biology of reproduction and natural reserves of the Pacific walrus” in 1984.

The walrus (Odobenus rosmarus Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the largest representatives of pinnipeds, second only to elephant seals in body size among pinnipeds. The ranges of these species do not overlap, meaning the walrus is the largest pinniped in its habitat.

The most characteristic feature of the walrus is its long tusks. These are elongated fangs that are present in both sexes and can reach a length of 1 m and weigh up to 5.4 kg. The tusks are slightly longer and thicker on males, who use them for fighting. Males with the largest tusks usually dominate the social group. The tusks are also used to form and support holes in the ice and help walruses climb out of the water onto the ice. The tusks may also be used to search for food on the bottom.

According to the latest estimate, based on the results of a Russian-American census conducted in 1990 and repeated in 2006, the current population size of the Pacific walrus is up to 200 thousand individuals. According to Russian-American censuses conducted in 2013-2017, using the genetic method of repeated captures, the number of Pacific walruses currently amounts to 256,434 walruses.

Most Pacific walruses spend the summer north of the Bering Strait, in the Chukchi Sea along the northern coast of eastern Siberia, near Wrangel Island, in the Beaufort Sea along the northern coast of Alaska, and are also found in waters between these places. A small number of males are found in the summer in the Gulf of Anadyr, on the southern coast of the Chukotka Peninsula, and also in Bristol Bay. In spring and autumn they concentrate from the western coast of Alaska to the Gulf of Anadyr. They winter in the southern parts of the Bering Sea, along the eastern coast of Siberia south to the northern Kamchatka Peninsula, and along the southern coast of Alaska.

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