Semantoridae is an extinct family of stem-

pinniped Pinnipeds (pronounced ), commonly known as seals, are a widely range (biology), distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammal, marine mammals. They comprise the extant taxon, extant family (biology ...

s with fossils found in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, dating back to various points in time in the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

epoch. Based on their overall anatomy semantorids were not marine specialists, as their elongated bodies, a long tail and robust limbs suggest they were freshwater animals not unlike otters. Indeed, at least some taxa such as '' Semantor'' and ''

Potamotherium ''Potamotherium'' ('river beast') an extinct genus of caniform carnivoran from the Miocene epoch of France and Germany. It has been previously assigned to the mustelid family, but recent work suggests that it represents a primitive relative of pi ...

'' were initially classified as

mustelid The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest family in t ...

s closely related to otters.

References

Miocene pinnipeds Transitional fossils Prehistoric mammal families {{paleo-carnivora-stub