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Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly.Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals.
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 ().
The South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens, formerly Otaria byronia), also called the southern sea lion and the Patagonian sea lion, is a sea lion found on the western and southeastern coasts of South America. It is the only member of the genus Otaria. The species is highly sexually dimorphic. Males have a large head and prominent mane.
Fur seal ranges. Fur seals and sea lions make up the family Otariidae. Along with the Phocidae and Odobenidae, ottariids are pinnipeds descending from a common ancestor most closely related to modern bears (as hinted by the subfamily Arctocephalinae, meaning "bear-headed").
The 34 extant species of Pinnipedia are split into 22 genera within 3 families: Odobenidae, comprising the walrus; Otariidae, the eared seals, split between the sea lions and fur seals; and Phocidae, the earless or true seals. Odobenidae and Otariidae are combined into the superfamily Otarioidea, with Phocidae in Phocoidea
Zalophus is a genus of the family Otariidae (sea lions and fur seals) of the order Carnivora. Description ... Z. japonicus: Japanese sea lion ...
Family Otariidae (eared seals, sea lions, fur seals) is distributed throughout the world's oceans with the exception of the North Atlantic. The 15 species (divided into seven genera) of otariids are distinguished from phocids by visible external ears ( pinnae ), more dog-like faces, and the ability to turn their rear flippers forward.
Otarioidea is a superfamily of pinnipeds that includes the families Odobenidae, Otariidae and their stem-relatives. [1] [2] In the past when the pinnipeds were considered to be a polyphyletic group of marine mammals, a few points of cranial and dental morphology suggested that the otarioids originated from a line of bears. [3]