What type of animal used to be called a “morse”?

“Morse" is an older word for a walrus, those great, lumbering beasts of the northern seas. The term is of uncertain origin but similar to words in Russian, Finnish, and French. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest known use of the word "morse" in any language dates to 1482, in William Caxton's "Chronicles of England”.

Walruses are divided into two subspecies; Atlantic and Pacific. Both sexes have tusks, which are used in mating displays and to defend against other walruses. They are carnivores and sense their prey (usually shellfish) by using their whiskers.

The term "morse" is still occasionally applied to walrus tusks, which may be referred to as "morse ivory."

Adult walrus are characterised by prominent tusks and whiskers, and their considerable bulk: adult males in the Pacific can weigh more than 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds) and, among the pinnipeds (seal family), there are only by two species of elephant seals which are larger in size.

Walruses live mostly in shallow waters above the continental shelves, spending much of their lives on the sea ice looking for mollusks to eat. Walruses are relatively long-lived, social animals, and they are considered to be a "keystone species" in the Arctic marine regions.

During the 19th and early 20th century, walruses were widely hunted and killed for their blubber, morse ivory, and meat. Their population dropped rapidly all around the Arctic region. Fortunately, it has rebounded somewhat since then