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Earless Seal
The earless seals, phocids, or true seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal lineage, 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 Eared seal, Otariidae. Seals live in the oceans of both hemispheres and, with the exception of the more tropical monk seals, are mostly confined to Polar region, polar, subpolar, and temperate climates. The Baikal seal is the only species of exclusively freshwater seal. Taxonomy and evolution Evolution The earliest known fossil earless seal is ''Noriphoca gaudini'' from the late Oligocene or earliest Miocene (Aquitanian (stage), Aquitanian) of Italy. Other early fossil phocids date from the mid-Miocene, 15 million years ago in the north Atlantic. Until recently, many researchers believed that phocids evolved separately from otariids and Walrus, odobenids; and that they evolved from otter-like ani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phocides
''Phocides'' is a genus of butterflies in the skipper family, Hesperiidae, in which it is placed in tribe Phocidini, of which it is the namesake genus. The distribution of the genus is primarily Neotropical, but a few species occur in the Nearctic. Species * ''Phocides batabano'' (Lucas, 1857) ** ''P. batabano okeechobee'' (Worthington, 1881) - Florida ** ''P. batabano batabanoides'' (Holland, 1903) - Bahamas ** ''P. batabano batabano'' (Lucas, 1857) - Cuba, Cayman * ''Phocides belus'' Godman & Salvin, [1893] - Mexico * ''Phocides bicolora'' (Boddaert, 1783) - Hispanola * ''Phocides charon'' (C. & R. Felder, 1859) - Brazil, Paraguay * ''Phocides distans'' (Herrich-Schäffer, 1869) ** ''P. distans distans'' - Venezuela ** ''P. distans licinus'' (Möschler, 1879) - Colombia, Panama ** ''P. distans silva'' Evans, 1952 - Peru * ''Phocides johnsoni'' Bell, 1947 - Colombia * ''Phocides lincea'' (Herrich-Schäffer, 1869) - Brazil * ''Phocides metrodorus'' Bell, 1932 ** ''P. metrod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eared Seal
An eared seal, otariid, or otary is any member of the marine mammal family Otariidae, one of three groupings of pinnipeds. They comprise 15 extant species in seven genera (another species became extinct in the 1950s) and are commonly known either as sea lions or fur seals, distinct from true seals (phocids) and the walrus ( odobenids). Otariids are adapted to a semiaquatic 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, the southern Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. They are conspicuously absent in the north Atlantic. The words "otariid" and "otary" come from the Greek ' meaning "little ear", referring to the small but visible external ear flaps ( pinnae), which distinguishes them from the phocids. Evolution and taxonomy Morphological and molecular evidence supports a monophyletic origin of pinnipeds, sharing a common ancestor with M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walrus
The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobenidae and genus ''Odobenus''. This species is subdivided into two subspecies: the Atlantic walrus (''O. r. rosmarus''), which lives in the Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific walrus (''O. r. divergens''), which lives in the Pacific Ocean. Adult walrus are characterised by prominent tusks and whiskers, and considerable bulk: adult males in the Pacific can weigh more than and, among pinnipeds, are exceeded in size only by the two species of elephant seals. Walrus live mostly in shallow waters above the continental shelves, spending significant amounts of their lives on the sea ice looking for benthic bivalve molluscs. Walruses are relatively long-lived, social animals, and are considered to be a " keystone species" in the Arctic marine regio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otariids
An eared seal, otariid, or otary is any member of the marine mammal family Otariidae, one of three groupings of pinnipeds. They comprise 15 extant taxon, extant species in seven genus, genera (another species became extinct in the 1950s) and are commonly known either as sea lions or fur seals, distinct from true seals (phocids) and the walrus (Odobenidae, odobenids). Otariids are adapted to a semiaquatic 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, the southern Indian Ocean, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. They are conspicuously absent in the north Atlantic. The words "otariid" and "otary" come from the Greek language, Greek ' meaning "little ear", referring to the small but visible external ear flaps (Pinna (anatomy), pinnae), which distinguishes them from the Phocidae, phocids. Evolution and taxonomy Morphological and molecular eviden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as List of islands of Italy, nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares land borders with France to the west; Switzerland and Austria to the north; Slovenia to the east; and the two enclaves of Vatican City and San Marino. It is the List of European countries by area, tenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering , and the third-most populous member state of the European Union, with nearly 59 million inhabitants. Italy's capital and List of cities in Italy, largest city is Rome; other major cities include Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, and Venice. The history of Italy goes back to numerous List of ancient peoples of Italy, Italic peoples—notably including the ancient Romans, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aquitanian (stage)
The Aquitanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geologic timescale, the oldest age or lowest stage in the Miocene. It spans the time between 23.03 Ma and 20.44 Ma (million years ago) during the Early Miocene. It was a dry, cooling period. The Aquitanian succeeds the Chattian (the youngest age of the Oligocene) and precedes the Burdigalian. The Aquitanian Age overlaps with the Harrisonian, Agenian, Pareora, Landon, Otaian, and Waitakian Ages from various regional timescales. Stratigraphic definition The Aquitanian Stage was named after the Aquitaine region in France and was introduced in scientific literature by Swiss stratigrapher Karl Mayer-Eymar in 1858. The base of the Aquitanian (also the base of the Miocene Series and the Neogene System) is defined as the place in the stratigraphic column at the first appearance of foram species '' Paragloborotalia kugleri'', the extinction of calcareous nanoplankton species '' Reticulofenestra bisect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noriphoca
''Noriphoca'' is an extinct genus of phocid belonging to the subfamily Monachinae. It is known from the late Oligocene to early Miocene of Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b .... Species The type species of ''Noriphoca'', ''N. gaudini'', was originally named ''Phoca gaudini'' on the basis of a skull from late Oligocene to earliest Miocene deposits in Chiento, Italy. Later authors referred it to either '' Monotherium'', '' Pristiphoca'', or the physeteroid genus '' Paleophoca''. However, it was later shown that ''P. gaudini'' cannot be referred to ''Monotherium'' as the latter was probably phocine and not monachine, and erected ''Noriphoca'' for the stem-monachine species ''P. gaudini''. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q53014899 Miocene pinnipeds Monotypic pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freshwater Seal
Freshwater seals are pinnipeds which live in freshwater bodies. The group is paraphyletic in nature, the uniting factor being the environment in which these pinnipeds live. The vast majority of all modern seals live solely in saltwater habitats though this is likely due to the rarity of sufficiently large freshwater bodies rather than the limitation of seal biology. Baikal seals The only exclusively freshwater seal species is the Baikal seal, locally named (). The Baikal seal has inhabited Lake Baikal for roughly two million years, the closest relative to it being the Arctic ringed seal whence it has likely descended. The manner by which the baikal seal reached Lake Baikal is still not fully understood, theories include their entrance into the lake via travel up the Yenisei River or perhaps via large lakes which existed in Siberia during the Pleistocene. Ringed seals While the Baikal Seal may be the only unique species of pinniped to live in a purely freshwater environ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baikal Seal
The Baikal seal (''Pusa sibirica''), also known as Lake Baikal seal or Baikal nerpa (), is a species of earless seal endemic to Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. The Baikal seal is one of the smallest earless/true seals, and the only exclusively freshwater pinniped species. The related Caspian seal inhabits another large, inland body of water, the Caspian Sea. Both species are closely related to the ringed seal, which inhabits the Arctic Ocean. A subpopulation of inland harbour seals living in the Hudson Bay region of Quebec, Canada (the Lacs des Loups Marins harbour seals), as well as the Saimaa ringed seal and the Ladoga seal (both ringed seal subspecies), are also found in fresh water, but these seals are part of species that also have marine populations, instead of being distinct species. The most recent population estimates are 80,000 to 100,000 animals, roughly equaling the expected carrying capacity of the lake. At present, the species is not considered threatened ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout the year and more distinct seasonal changes compared to tropical climates, where such variations are often small; they usually differ only in the amount of precipitation. In temperate climates, not only do latitude, latitudinal positions influence temperature changes, but various sea currents, prevailing wind direction, continentality (how large a landmass is) and altitude also shape temperate climates. The Köppen climate classification defines a climate as "temperate" C, when the mean temperature is above but below in the coldest month to account for the persistence of frost. However, some adaptations of Köppen set the minimum at . Continental climate, Continental climates are classified as D and considered to be varie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polar Region
The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high latitudes are dominated by floating sea ice covering much of the Arctic Ocean in the north, and by the Antarctic ice sheet on the continent of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the south. Definitions The Arctic has various definitions, including the region north of the Arctic Circle (currently Epoch 2010 at 66°33'44" N), or just the region north of 60° north latitude, or the region from the North Pole south to the timberline. The Antarctic is usually defined simply as south of 60° south latitude, or the continent of Antarctica. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty uses the former definition. The two polar regions are distinguished from the other two climatic and biometric belts of Earth, a tropics belt near the equator, and two middle latitud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
