A harbor seal, image from the Wikimedia Commons
Pinniped Classification
Seals, sea lions, and walruses are furry, fin-footed, marine mammals that share a common evolutionary history and are placed in the clade Pinnipedia. Part of the order Carnivora, pinnipeds are divided into three main families: Phocidae (the true seals), Otariidae (sea lions and fur seals), and Odobenidae (walruses).
Family Phocidae – True Seals
True seals, sometimes referred to as earless seals, include nineteen living species that have successfully inhabited the oceans from the tropics to the poles. Physically, seals have no external ears and hind flippers that cannot bend forward. This means they can’t walk on land but instead roll forward. While swimming, seals swim with a waggle of their hind flippers and lower torso. Most seals “haul-out” on ice to have their pups rather than dry land and wean their pups very quickly, some in as little as 3 weeks. Seals eat a variety of foods, but the bulk of most seals’ diet is fish.
An Australian Sea Lion Image from Wikipedia
Family Otariidae – Sea Lions and Fur Seals
The family Otariidae, or eared seals, is not as diverse or wide spread as their Phocidae cousins. The family includes fifteen species of sea lions and fur seals that inhabit the world’s temperate and tropical oceans. Sea lions have distinctive external ears. Their flexible skeletons allow them to fold their hind flippers forward and use them to walk on land. Sea lions swim by flapping their front flippers like wings. Sea lions (along with fur seals and elephant seals) have distinctive sexual dimorphism (males are much larger than females) and polygamous breeding that occurs on land.
Family Odobenidae – Walruses
The walrus has a mixture of qualities from both the true seals and sea lions. Like true seals, walruses do not have an external ear. Similar to sea lions, they can move their hind flippers forward and underneath their bodies but they cannot bear weight. Both male and female walruses have tusks (large canine teeth). Male tusks are slightly larger than females and can reach almost a meter in length. Walruses have thick, well insulated skin that lacks the visible hair or fur of the other seals. Walruses are the largest pinnipeds in size except for male elephant seals. Walruses eat a wide variety of mollusks found on the ocean floor, and they are largely dependent upon sea ice to provide them a shelf to launch their feeding forays over the continental shelf.
Order Sirenia – Manatees and Dugongs
The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus) Image from Wikipedia.
The order Sirenia includes three living species of manatee, and one species of dugong. Sometimes referred to as sea cows, these are slow swimming herbivorous marine mammals. Most live in tropical waters eating sea grass and aquatic plants. Manatee’s will eat up to 10% of their body mass in vegetation each day. The front limbs are short flippers, and the body tapers to a flat, paddle-shaped tail. Manatees have low metabolic rates and low body fat. This leaves them very temperature sensitive and they will struggle in water below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. All of the sirens are endangered, suffering most from boat strikes and habitat loss.
Dugong’s are similar in size and shape but they posses a fluke-like tail and a hoover like mouth. Dugong’s inhabit the waters of the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific. They are exclusively salt water dwellers, unlike some species of manatee that will venture up freshwater rivers.
The large “Stellar Sea Cow” was documented by early Russian explorers to Alaska and was probably the first Alaskan species to go extinct because of European colonization. Apparently, sea cow’s tasted good.
To read more about Sirenes, check out 14 fun facts about manatees.
Famiy Mustelindea – Sea otters
The sea otter is the smallest marine mammal. Dense fur that traps air bubbles (for added insulation) is all that allows them to survive in the ocean’s cold water. They possess a strong, rudder-like tail and large hind-feet that act as flippers. Sea otters have huge appetites and a fast metabolism. They eat a variety of bottom dwelling invertebrates but prefer clams, crabs, and sea urchins. This high metabolic rate help keeps them warm, but it also gives them a position as a “keystone species” in kelp forest communities.
Family Ursus – Polar Bears
The polar bear is the largest living land carnivore in the world today. They are highly adapted for life on the ice. The polar bear is grouped here with marine mammals because of its impressive swimming ability and its complete dependence on the ocean for nutrition. The polar bears are distinctive for their thick white fur, which actually covers skin that is black. The neck of the polar bear is longer than other species of bears, and the elongated head has small ears. Its long extended neck and broad back side gives the polar bear a “boat like” shape. Polar bears have large strong limbs and huge forepaws which are used as paddles for swimming. Click to learn more about Polar Bear’s.
Questions to Research
- The Harbor Seal is an important Alaskan Phocidae (earless seal.) Describe the details of their geographic range, feeding strategies, breeding behaviors.
- The Steller Sea Lion is an important Alaskan Otariidae (eared seal.) Describe the details of their geographic range, feeding strategies, breeding behaviors.
- Read through Cary Kuhn’s blog about studying Northern Fur Seals. Describe some of the tools and technology she and her peers are using to better understand why these animals are in decline. (Note: You may need to read all six posts.)
- Describe how a sea lion swims.It may help you to contrast the motion with the swimming motion of a seal. Then compare and contrast how seals and sea lions move out of water. This (YouTube) will give you some context and and this (YouTube) will give you an explanation.
- Today, thousands of northern elephant seals come to the beaches at Ano Nuevo State Park to breed or molt their fur. (The link is an active webcam for the beach.) Yet, it wasn’t so long ago that only a handful of these animals existed on a single beach on Isla Guatalupe, Mexico. Watch this KQUED video (YouTube) about Elephant Seals and explain two things you learn about elephant seals.
- Sexual dimorphism is the physical differences in size or appearance between males and females.Elephant Seals have someof the most extreme sexual dimorphism on the planet. Read the link, describe what you learn.
- What dowalrus primarily eat, and what do they use their huge tusks for?
- Explain how sea otters are critical to healthy kelp forest communities.
- Read the section above about order Sirenia. Describe the physical and geographical difference between dugongs, manatee’s and the now extinct sea cow.
- Go learn a bit more about polar bears. Maritimus is Latin for “of the sea.” Explain how the scientific name Ursus maritimus is a good descriptor for polar bears.
Ready to test yourself? Take the self assessment below.
