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[Bulldog67]

Sorry didn't mean to put a pic off bulldawg cuddling a fat bird.

dood that is proper funny and now I have to explain to Mrs BD why im cracking up

[j33pky]

im sure she already knows your cracking up

[Dave The Sparky]

Fat bird? Nah thats a photograph of the Birtys Moderator initiation ceremony isn't it?

[Bulldog67]

 

[j33pky]

I wondered where he was putting his arm!!   was he licking the fluff out of nosebolt's belly button?

[j33pky]

I would like to take this opportunity to retract the comment about nosebolt  and replace it with bubba!  As I know bubba has a sence of humor. 

[willo]

so no-one knows then? hopefully Mr Diesel J20 will reveal something

[Dave The Sparky]

I would imagine if you use your eyes and maybe even some verniers to measure that it would be quite clear, but then again i am just an electrician so what do i know

[Dave The Sparky]

I would like to take this opportunity to retract the comment about nosebolt  and replace it with blubba!  As I know blubba has a sense of humor. 

Corrected your spellings for you dyslexic boy

[j33pky]

Good job I've still got my good looks and charm to fall back on!! 

[j33pky]

I would imagine if you use your eyes and maybe even some verniers to measure that it would be quite clear, but then again i am just an electrician so what do i know

You could even do a impression with playdo then make a wax shaft ( iom's fave) from that mould then use that sand to make a mould around the before mentioned wax shaft (iom is now very excited) and then melt some nice metal and pour it through a hole in the mould melting the now very hot wax shaft and replacing it with a metal one!

But what do I know..  I'm just a engineer working for a global gearbox shaft making company

[j33pky]

Since you all seem interested in walrus...
Walrus
For other uses, see Walrus (disambiguation).
Walrus

Conservation status

Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:   Animalia
Phylum:   Chordata
Class:   Mammalia
Order:   Carnivora
Clade:   Pinnipedia
Family:   Odobenidae
Genus:   Odobenus
Brisson, 1762
Type species
Phoca rosmarus
Linnaeus, 1758[2]
Subspecies
O. rosmarus rosmarus
O. rosmarus divergens
O. rosmarus laptevi (debated)


Distribution of walrus
Synonyms
Phoca rosmarus Linnaeus, 1758


Walrus cows and yearlings (short tusks). Photo courtesy USFWS
The walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. This species is subdivided into three subspecies:[3] the Atlantic walrus (O. r. rosmarus) which lives in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific walrus (O. r. divergens) which lives in the Pacific Ocean, and O. r. laptevi, which lives in the Laptev Sea of the Arctic Ocean.

Adult walruses are easily recognized by their prominent tusks, whiskers, and bulkiness. Adult males in the Pacific can weigh more than 2,000 kg (4,400 lb)[4] and, among pinnipeds, are exceeded in size only by the two species of elephant seals.[5] Walruses live mostly in shallow waters above the continental shelves, spending significant amounts of their lives on the sea ice looking for benthic bivalve mollusks to eat. Walruses are relatively long-lived, social animals, and they are considered to be a "keystone species" in the Arctic marine regions.

The walrus has played a prominent role in the cultures of many indigenous Arctic peoples, who have hunted the walrus for its meat, fat, skin, tusks, and bone. During the 19th century and the early 20th century, walruses were widely hunted and killed for their blubber, walrus ivory, and meat. The population of walruses dropped rapidly all around the Arctic region. Their population has rebounded somewhat since then, though the populations of Atlantic and Laptev walruses remain fragmented and at low levels compared with the time before human interference.

EtymologyEdit
   Look up walrus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A walrus, labeled Ros marus piscis, is depicted in а 16th-century map of Scandinavia (the Carta Marina).
The origin of the word walrus is thought by J.R.R. Tolkien[6] to derive from a Germanic language, and it has been attributed largely to either the Dutch language or Old Norse. Its first part is thought to derive from a word such as Dutch walvis 'whale'. Its second part has also been hypothesized to come from the Old Norse word for 'horse'.[7] For example, the Old Norse word hrossvalr means 'horse-whale' and is thought to have been passed in an inverted form to both Dutch and the dialects of northern Germany as walros and Walross.[8] An alternate theory is that is comes from the Dutch words wal 'shore' and reus 'giant'.[9]

The species name rosmarus is Scandinavian. The Norwegian manuscript Konungsskuggsja, thought to date from around 1240 AD, refers to the walrus as "rosmhvalr" in Iceland and "rostungr" in Greenland (walruses were by now extinct in Iceland and Norway, while the word evolved on in Greenland). Several place names in Iceland, Greenland and Norway may originate from walrus sites: Hvalfjord, Hvallatrar and Hvalsnes to name some, all being typical walrus breeding grounds.

The archaic English word for walrus—morse—is widely thought to have come from the Slavic languages.[10] Compare морж (morž) in Russian, mursu in Finnish, moršâ in Saami, and morse in French. Olaus Magnus, who depicted the walrus in the Carta Marina in 1539, first referred to the walrus as the ros marus, probably a Latinization of morž, and this was adopted by Linnaeus in his binomial nomenclature.[11]

The coincidental similarity between morse and the Latin word morsus ("a bite") supposedly contributed to the walrus's reputation as a "terrible monster".[11]

The compound Odobenus comes from odous (Greek for 'tooth') and baino (Greek for 'walk'), based on observations of walruses using their tusks to pull themselves out of the water. The term divergens in Latin means 'turning apart', referring to their tusks.

Taxonomy and evolutionEdit
The walrus is a mammal in the order Carnivora. It is the sole surviving member of the family Odobenidae, one of three lineages in the suborder Pinnipedia along with true seals (Phocidae) and eared seals (Otariidae). While there has been some debate as to whether all three lineages are monophyletic, i.e. descended from a single ancestor, or diphyletic, recent genetic evidence suggests all three descended from a caniform ancestor most closely related to modern bears.[12] Recent multigene analysis indicates the odobenids and otariids diverged from the phocids about 20–26 million years ago, while the odobenids and the otariids separated 15–20 million years ago.[13][14] Odobenidae was once a highly diverse and widespread family, including at least twenty species in the Imagotariinae, Dusignathinae and Odobeninae subfamilies.[15] The key distinguishing feature was the development of a squirt/suction feeding mechanism; tusks are a later feature specific to Odobeninae, of which the modern walrus is the last remaining (relict) species.

Two subspecies of walrus are widely recognized: the Atlantic walrus, O. r. rosmarus (Linnaeus, 1758) and the Pacific walrus, O. r. divergens (Illiger, 1815). Fixed genetic differences between the Atlantic and Pacific subspecies indicate very restricted gene flow, but relatively recent separation, estimated at 500,000 and 785,000 years ago.[16] These dates coincide with the hypothesis derived from fossils that the walrus evolved from a tropical or subtropical ancestor that became isolated in the Atlantic Ocean and gradually adapted to colder conditions in the Arctic.[16] From there, it presumably recolonized the North Pacific Ocean during high glaciation periods in the Pleistocene via the Central American Seaway.[13]

An isolated population in the Laptev Sea is considered by some authorities, including many Russian biologists and the canonical Mammal Species of the World,[3] to be a third subspecies, O. r. laptevi (Chapskii, 1940), and is managed as such in Russia.[17] Where the subspecies separation is not accepted, whether to consider it a subpopulation of the Atlantic or Pacific subspecies remained under debate[5][18] until 2009, when multiple lines of molecular evidence showed it to represent the westernmost population of the Pacific walrus.[19]


Young male Pacific walruses on Cape Pierce in Alaska: Note the variation in the curvature and orientation of the tusks and the bumpy skin (bosses), typical of males.
AnatomyEdit

Walrus using its tusks to hang on a breathing hole in the ice near St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea

Skeleton

A walrus skull
While some outsized Pacific males can weigh as much as 2,000 kg (4,400 lb), most weigh between 800 and 1,700 kg (1,800 and 3,700 lb). An occasional male of the Pacific subspecies far exceeds normal dimensions. In 1909, a walrus hide weighing 500 kg (1,100 lb) was collected from an enormous bull in Franz Josef Land, while in August 1910, Jack Woodson shot a 4.9 m (16 ft) long walrus, harvesting its 450 kg (1,000 lb) hide. Since a walrus's hide usually accounts for about 20% of its body weight, the total body mass of these two giants is estimated to have been at least 2,300 kg (5,000 lb).[20] The Atlantic subspecies weighs about 10–20% less than the Pacific subspecies.[5] Male Atlantic Walrus weigh an average of 900 kg (2,000 lb).[21] The Atlantic Walrus also tends to have relatively shorter tusks and somewhat more flattened snout. Females weigh about two-thirds as much as males, with the Atlantic females averaging 560 kg (1,230 lb), sometimes weighing as little as 400 kg (880 lb), and the Pacific female averaging 800 kg (1,800 lb).[22] Length typically ranges from 2.2 to 3.6 m (7.2 to 11.8 ft).[23][24] Newborn walruses are already quite large, averaging 33 to 85 kg (73 to 187 lb) in weight and 1 to 1.4 m (3.3 to 4.6 ft) in length across both sexes and subspecies.[1] All told, the Walrus is the third largest pinniped species, after the two elephant seals.

The walrus's body shape shares features with both sea lions (eared seals: Otariidae) and seals (true seals: Phocidae). As with otariids, it can turn its rear flippers forward and move on all fours; however, its swimming technique is more like that of true seals, relying less on flippers and more on sinuous whole body movements.[5] Also like phocids, it lacks external ears.

The extraocular muscles of the walrus are well-developed. This and its lack of orbital roof allow it to protrude its eyes and see in both a frontal and dorsal direction. However, vision in this species appears to be more suited for short-range.[25]

Tusks and dentition
The most prominent feature of the walrus is its long tusks. These are elongated canines, which are present in both sexes and can reach a length of 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and weigh up to 5.4 kg (12 lb).[26] Tusks are slightly longer and thicker among males, which use them for fighting, dominance and display; the strongest males with the largest tusks typically dominate social groups. Tusks are also used to form and maintain holes in the ice and aid the walrus in climbing out of water onto ice.[27] Tusks were once thought to be used to dig out prey from the seabed, but analyses of abrasion patterns on the tusks indicate they are dragged through the sediment while the upper edge of the snout is used for digging.[28] While the dentition of walruses is highly variable, they generally have relatively few teeth other than the tusks. The maximal number of teeth is 38 with dentition formula:
3.1.4.2
3.1.3.2
, but over half of the teeth are rudimentary and occur with less than 50% frequency, such that a typical dentition includes only 18 teeth
1.1.3.0
0.1.3.0
[5]

Vibrissae
Surrounding the tusks is a broad mat of stiff bristles ('mystacial vibrissae'), giving the walrus a characteristic whiskered appearance. There can be 400 to 700 vibrissae in 13 to 15 rows reaching 30 cm (12 in) in length, though in the wild they are often worn to much shorter lengths due to constant use in foraging.[29] The vibrissae are attached to muscles and are supplied with blood and nerves, making them highly sensitive organs capable of differentiating shapes 3 mm (0.12 in) thick and 2 mm (0.079 in) wide.[29]

Skin
Aside from the vibrissae, the walrus is sparsely covered with fur and appears bald. Its skin is highly wrinkled and thick, up to 10 cm (3.9 in) around the neck and shoulders of males. The blubber layer beneath is up to 15 cm (5.9 in) thick. Young walruses are deep brown and grow paler and more cinnamon-colored as they age. Old males, in particular, become nearly pink. Because skin blood vessels constrict in cold water, the walrus can appear almost white when swimming. As a secondary sexual characteristic, males also acquire significant nodules, called "bosses", particularly around the neck and shoulders.[27]

The walrus has an air sac under its throat which acts like a floatation bubble and allows it to bob vertically in the water and sleep. The males possess a large baculum (penis bone), up to 63 cm (25 in) in length, the largest of any land mammal, both in absolute size and relative to body size.[5]

Life historyEdit

Walruses fighting
Reproduction
Walruses live to about 20–30 years old in the wild.[30] The males reach sexual maturity as early as seven years, but do not typically mate until fully developed at around 15 years of age.[5] They rut from January through April, decreasing their food intake dramatically. The females begin ovulating as soon as four to six years old.[5] The females are polyestrous, coming into heat in late summer and also around February, yet the males are fertile only around February; the potential fertility of this second period is unknown. Breeding occurs from January to March, peaking in February. Males aggregate in the water around ice-bound groups of estrous females and engage in competitive vocal displays.[31] The females join them and copulate in the water.[27]

Gestation lasts 15 to 16 months. The first three to four months are spent with the blastula in suspended development before it implants itself in the placenta. This strategy of delayed implantation, common among pinnipeds, presumably evolved to optimize both the mating season and the birthing season, determined by ecological conditions that promote newborn survival.[32] Calves are born during the spring migration, from April to June. They weigh 45 to 75 kg (99 to 165 lb) at birth and are able to swim. The mothers nurse for over a year before weaning, but the young can spend up to five years with the mothers.[27] Because ovulation is suppressed until the calf is weaned, females give birth at most every two years, leaving the walrus with the lowest reproductive rate of any pinniped.[33]

Migration
The rest of the year (late summer and fall), walruses tend to form massive aggregations of tens of thousands of individuals on rocky beaches or outcrops. The migration between the ice and the beach can be long-distance and dramatic. In late spring and summer, for example, several hundred thousand Pacific walruses migrate from the Bering Sea into the Chukchi Sea through the relatively narrow Bering Strait.[27]

[Bulldog67]

The males possess a large baculum (penis bone), up to 63 cm (25 in) in length, the largest of any land mammal, both in absolute size and relative to body size.[5]

Lawd your a pervert

[willo]

We may be getting somewhere

[j33pky]

Is it aw4 or walrus related?