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Flippered and charismatic, pinnipeds (which includes seals, sea lions, and walruses) are true personalities of the sea. Like whales, manatees, and sea otters, they are marine mammals, meaning millions of years ago their ancestors evolved from a life on land to a life at sea. Today, they remain creatures of both land and sea.
Mar 20, 2024 · A stunning array of fossils demonstrate how whales evolved from hoofed mammals that adapted to life in the water around 45 million years ago. And yet whales are not the only marine mammals whose ...
- Riley Black
May 6, 2021 · On entering the water, seals had to adapt both their bodies and behaviour to become efficient underwater swimmers. Like penguins and sea turtles, they use streamlined limbs to propel themselves ...
- David Hocking
Oct 27, 2018 · Marine mammals, including seals, have been shown to be important contributors to necessary nutrient circulation in our oceans. Some of the fundamental work that has been done into understanding this phenomenon, has been done in the Gulf of Maine (Roman et al. 2010, Roman et al. 2014, Doughty et al. 2016).
- 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.
Seals and sea lions belong to a group of marine mammals called pinnipeds, which means fin or flipper-footed. These animals live in the ocean, but are able to come on land for long periods of time. Some species have evolved the ability to hold their breath for up to two hours and dive to depths of more than 6,500 feet when looking for food.
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Nov 22, 2019 · A layer of fat called blubber between the muscles and outer skin protect sea lions from frigid ocean temperatures. Most species, after all, inhabit temperate waters; the Steller sea lion will also range well north in the Pacific to the Bering Sea. Out of the water, sea lions deal with excess heat by panting and circulating blood through the ...
