Facts about Seal

Some phocids, such as the elephant seals and the grey seals, breed in large groups that may have hundreds of animals (Riedman 1990).

Like fur seals, sea lions are characterized by the presence of external ear pinnae or flaps, long front flippers, and the ability to walk on four flippers on land.

All fur seals except the northern and Guadalupe fur seals are found in the Southern Hemisphere (Riedman 1990).

Seals are typically sleek-bodied and well adapted to their aquatic habitat.

The eared seals (or walking seals), family Otariidae, are the fur seals and the sea lions.

Others, such as the elephant seal, are polygynous, involving dominance hierarchies, and with large differences in size between the male and female.

The Guadalupe fur seal and Steller sea lion are listed as threatened status on the endangered species list.

The smallest seal is the Galapagos fur seal, which weighs about 30 kg (66 lb) when full-grown and is 1.2 m (4 ft) long.

Earless seals (or "true seals" or "crawling seals") belong to the taxonomic family Phocidae (phocids).

One way of differentiating between the two main groups of seals is by the presence of the pinna, a small furry earflap, found on the otarids and missing from phocids.

The following is one possible classification of extant (living) species of seals.

The largest seal is the male southern elephant seal, a phocid.

Seals play an integral ecological role, eating crustaceans, squids, and small fish, and being eaten by orca whales, bears, sharks, and some by walruses.

Some, such as the Arctic ringed seals, breed in solitary, monogamous groups, with just the male, female, and pup, and with the male and female of equal size (Riedman 1990).

Some taxonomists suggest that the differences between the fur seals and the sea lions are not great enough to separate them into the subfamilies Arctocephalinae and Otariinae (Riedman 1990).

Phocids are referred to as "earless seals" because their ears are not easily seen, while otarids are referred to as "eared seals."

Seals spend most of their lives in the ocean, with the major exception of breeding and raising their young, which they do on land.

Fur seals have a more pointed snout and longer foreflippers than sea lions, and they have a thick, luxuriant coat of fur (pelage) (Riedman 1990).

Eared seals (or "walking seals") are members of the family Otariidae (otarids) and include fur seals and sea lions.

The leopard seal is probably the most carnivorous and predatory of all the pinnipeds, eating a wide variety of prey, from krill to penguins to other seals.

Fur seals alone make up the Arctocephalinae subfamily.

Seals breed and raise their young on land (or, in some cases, on ice).

No seals are found in Asia (Riedman 1990).

All seals are carnivorous, eating fish, shellfish, squid, and other marine creatures.

The Hawaiian monk seal is listed as endangered, and the Caribbean monk seal has not been seen since 1952 and is considered to be extinct.

Otarid seals tend to have similar breeding systems, while phocid breeding methods are more variable.

One seal, the Baikal seal or nerpa (Phoca sibirica) lives in Lake Baikal and is the world's only freshwater seal; two subspecies of the ringed seal, though, also spend their whole lives in freshwater.

All but two species of fur seals are found in the Southern Hemisphere, while sea lions are common to both hemispheres.

In zoology, a seal is any pinniped other than a walrus.

The largest seal is the male southern elephant seal, a phocid.

Fur seals are generally smaller than sea lions.

The Hawaiian monk seal is listed as endangered, and the Caribbean monk seal has not been seen since 1952 and is considered to be extinct.

Otarid seals tend to have similar breeding systems, while phocid breeding methods are more variable.