My last post was brief, to the point, and left much in the way off cliff-hangers, so I'm back to resolve some of those burning questions I'm sure you are asking. Did he say walrus?
That would be a resounding yes. The handsome fellow above is a member of my newest study species the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). Translated into English that comes roughly to "the animal that split off from the tooth walking horse of the sea." Makes perfect sense, right? Well, when you break it down, it does. "Odo" means "tooth" in Latin, while "benus" means "walk" or "walker." Walruses (and that is the correct pluralization, sadly, not "walri") were given this name because of the tendency of the males to use their protruding tusks to help haul themselves out of the water and onto the sea ice. "Rosmarus" has its roots in ancient Norse, meaning "horse of the sea." Finally, the subspecies designator at the end of the name, "divergens," indicates that the Pacific walrus broke off, or diverged, from the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) some time in their evolutionary history.
Now the catch here is this: despite the fact that I am beginning a PhD focusing entirely on walruses, I may or may not get to see a living walrus during the course of the project. How's that for another cliff-hanger? That's how I keep my readers coming back for more.
More details next time!
Casey
