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While there are many differences among the species, all seals have feet shaped like fins. In fact, the word pinniped means "fin-footed" in Latin. Those fin-shaped feet make them supreme swimmers ...
Feb 9, 2023 · Seals are scientifically known as pinnipeds, which means fin-footed, and all seals have fin-shaped feet, or feet-shaped fins, depending on your perspective. This is one of just a couple of characteristics that all seals share, with the other being a fusiform or torped0-shaped body that tapers at both ends.
The Seal has short, thick fur, grows to be up to 6.5 feet (2 metres) long and can weigh up to 375 pounds (170 kilograms). The whiskers (called vibrissae) help the seals sense of touch. The nostrils are closed in the resting state. Blubber is a thick layer of vascular fat found under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds and sirenians.
Mar 9, 2023 · All seals have fin-shaped feet, which is why they are named pinnipeds, which means “fin-footed” in Latin. Except for crabeaters and leopard seals, males are often larger than females. They have sleek and spindly bodies, rounded heads, short snouts, and short tails. The majority of them have dense fur and whiskers.
- They have been around for a long time. Fossil records indicate that the ancestors of modern seals first entered the ocean on the west coast, about 28–30 million years ago.
- There are three different major types of pinnipeds. “Phocid seals” are also called “true seals” and include several species such as harbor seals and gray seals.
- They have whiskers they use like cats do. Seals and sea lions have many well-developed whiskers, much like cats. Like cats, they have a very acute sense of touch.
- They can go for long periods of time without eating. A seal’s body stores enough fat in the blubber layer to allow the animal to go for extended periods of time without eating.
Oct 11, 2016 · The body of a seal is specifically structured for life in the water, with a smooth, torpedo shaped torso, and flattened, powerful flippers, like four large swim fins instead of feet. In fact, the swim-fins scuba divers and backyard snorkelers use were modeled after the unique, compressed and web-toed feet of a seal.
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Sep 26, 2024 · seal, any of 32 species of web-footed aquatic mammal s that live chiefly in cold seas and whose body shape, round at the middle and tapered at the ends, is adapted to swift and graceful swimming. There are two types of seals: the earless, or true, seals (family Phocidae); and the eared seals (family Otariidae), which comprise the sea lion s and ...