No, walruses are not seals, but they are closely related marine mammals. They belong to a broader group of fin-footed, carnivorous animals called pinnipeds, which includes the walrus, true seals, and eared seals. These animals all share a streamlined body shape and flippers adapted for life in the ocean. Walruses are distinguished enough from seals to be placed in their own separate scientific family, highlighting the many physical and behavioral differences that set them apart.
The Shared Suborder of Pinnipeds
Walruses and seals belong to the suborder Pinnipedia, meaning “fin-footed,” a group within the order Carnivora. This suborder is divided into three distinct families. Walruses are the only living member of the family Odobenidae, which is entirely separate from the two seal families.
The two groups of seals are the earless or “true” seals (family Phocidae) and the eared seals (family Otariidae), which include sea lions and fur seals. True seals lack external ear flaps and generally have small front flippers. Eared seals, by contrast, possess small, visible external ear flaps and large, powerful front flippers.
Physical Traits That Define Each Animal
The most recognizable feature distinguishing a walrus from any seal is its pair of large tusks, which are elongated upper canine teeth present in both males and females. These tusks are used for various purposes, including hauling the massive body onto ice and foraging for food on the seabed. No species of seal possesses tusks, relying instead on sharp carnivore teeth for feeding.
Walruses are significantly larger than most seals, with males often weighing over 3,000 pounds. Their skin is extremely thick and wrinkled, and they have a sparse covering of reddish-brown hair. True seals and eared seals maintain a much denser coat of fur, though true seals lack the external ear flaps of the eared seals and the walrus.
The flippers on a walrus are large and paddle-like, providing a strong base of support for their massive bodies on land. In contrast, true seals have short front flippers that are primarily used for steering in the water. Eared seals possess large front flippers that they use for propulsion while swimming. Walruses also feature a broad, muscular snout with a dense mat of sensitive, quill-like whiskers, which they use to detect prey like clams and other benthic invertebrates.
Locomotion and Social Differences
The structure of the flippers dictates how each animal moves on land. Walruses and eared seals both have the ability to rotate their hind flippers forward and underneath their bodies, allowing them to walk on all fours across ice or land. This adaptation provides them with terrestrial mobility, letting them lift their bodies off the ground.
True seals, however, cannot rotate their hind flippers and must keep them permanently pointed backward. They move on land by wriggling or “galumphing” using their powerful abdominal muscles. In the water, walruses and true seals primarily use side-to-side movements of their hindquarters and hind flippers for propulsion. Eared seals, conversely, rely almost entirely on powerful, synchronized strokes of their fore-flippers to propel themselves through the water.
Walruses are strictly Arctic animals, found only in the northern polar regions. They are highly gregarious, forming massive herds for protection and breeding. They are specialized feeders, using their sensitive whiskers to find shellfish on the seafloor and creating a vacuum to suction the meat out of the shells. Seals have a much wider global distribution, with species found from the Arctic to the tropics. Their social structures vary widely, with many seals hunting individually on a more varied diet of fish, squid, and crustaceans.