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Phocoidea

(Superfamily)

Overview

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A taxonomic superfamily.

Taxonomy

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The Superfamily Phocoidea is a member of the Series Amniota. Here is the complete "parentage" of Phocoidea:

The Superfamily Phocoidea is further organized into finer groupings including:

Families

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Otariidae

The eared seals or otariids are marine mammals in the family Otariidae, one of three groupings of Pinnipeds. They comprise 16 species in seven genera commonly known either as sea lions or fur seals, distinct from true seals (phocids) and the Walrus (odobenids). Otariids are adapted to a semi-aquatic lifestyle, feeding and migrating in the water but breeding and resting on land or ice. They reside in subpolar, temperate, and equatorial waters throughout the Pacific and Southern oceans and the southern Indian and Atlantic oceans. They are conspicuously absent in the north Atlantic. [more]

Phocidae

The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal superfamily, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae (). They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of the family Otariidae. Seals live in the oceans of both hemispheres and are mostly confined to polar, subpolar, and temperate climates, with the exception of the more tropical monk seals. [more]

At least 157 species and subspecies belong to the Family Phocidae.

More info about the Family Phocidae may be found here.

Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 13:21:37