Pinniped Family tree

Pinniped family tree

Pinnipeds is the extended seal family. This includes 34 species. Many of these are quite similar, but there are clear families within the clad.

First divide is between seals with external ears and those without. 

Earless seals are then divided between northern hemisphere (phosinae) and southern hemisphere (monachinae), while the eared seals are divided between fur seals and sea lions (Otariidae ) and the walrus (only member of Odobenidae).

                                                                                                            Earless seals                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Eared Seals

Southern Hemishpere earless sealsweddell seal, monachinae Northern hemisphere earless seals Bearded seal, Phocinae fur seal Pacific Warus Odobenidae

So Dealing with these families one by one, we will start with the family Moarchinae

This contains the Monarchini genus (which consists of the monks seals), Miroungini (which consists of the Northern and Southern Elephant seal) and finally Lobodontini (which consists of 4 seal species, the Ross seal, Crabeaters seal, and the closely related species the Weddled seal and the Leopard seal)

Moarchinae

Carribean monk seal extinct Hawaiian monk seal mediterranean monk seal northern elephant seal Crabeater seal Ross seal Southern elephant seal Leopard seal weddell seal

The other family in earless seals is Phocinae. The bulk of the seals in this group lie in the genus Phocini. Only the Bearded and Hooded seal lie in this group but outside this genus

Phocinae

Baikal seal Caspian seal Grey seal Harbor seal hooded seal Harp seal Ribbon seal ringed seal Spotted seal Bearded seal

The other half of the family consists of the eared seals, which consist of fur seals and sea lions (in Otaridae), as well as the walrus in Odebenidae.

So, first the eared seals: these consist of the sea lions and the fur seals. Below is the fur seals

Fur seals

Subantarctic fur seal Antarctic fur seal Australasian fur seal Galápagos fur seal Guadalupe fur seal Juan Fernández fur seal Northern fur seal South American fur seal Brown fur seal

Finally, the sea lions

Steller sea lion Australian sea lion California sea lion Galápagos sea lion New Zealand sea lion South American sea lion

And lastly Walrus

Odobenidae

Walrus

In many places, these species are relatively easy to find, whether you need to take a boat trip, or merely go for a walk along the right stretch of shore. We are keen to help seal tourism worldwide, do reach out, and we can promote your tourism. You will find a form to fill in at the top of the page, under list your wild place.

Also, there is a plugin on each page, which should show news related to each species.