? Pinnipeds | ||||||||||
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| [image] Juvenile Antarctic Fur Seal | ||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
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| Families | ||||||||||
| Odobenidae Otariidae Phocidae |
Pinnipeds ("fin-foots", lit. "winged foots") are large marine mammals belonging to the former biological suborder Pinnipedia (sometimes now a Superfamily) of the order Carnivora. The pinnipeds now fall within the suborder Caniformia and comprise the families Odobenidae (walruses), Otariidae (sea lions, eared seals, and fur seals), and Phocidae (true seals).
Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and rather large. Their bodies are well adapted to their aquatic habitat, in which they spend most of their lives. In place of hands, their forelimbs are large flippers (hence the name "fin-foots"), and their bodies narrow out into a tail. The smallest pinniped, the Galapagos Fur Seal, weighs about 30 kg (66 lbs.) when full-grown and is 1.2 meters (4 feet) long; the largest, the male Southern Elephant Seal, is over 4 meters (13 feet) long and weighs up to 2,200 kg (4,850 lb, more than 2 tons). All pinnipeds are carnivorous, eating fish, shellfish, squid, and other marine creatures.
[image] [image]
Odobenidae (walruses): contains 1 species in 1 genus
Otariidae (sea lions, eared seals, and fur seals): contains 12 species in 6 genera
Phocidae (true seals): contains 19 species in 13 genera