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Sep 26, 2024 · Seal, any of 32 species of web-footed aquatic mammals 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; and the eared seals, which comprise the sea lions and fur seals.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Seals are a semi-aquatic species, also commonly referred to as pinnipeds. There are three general categories of seals, classified as Phocidae, consisting of the true seals, Otariidae, consisting of fur seals and sea lions, and Odobenidae, which currently includes only walruses.
- Mammalia
- Chordata
- Carnivora
Seals. Scientific Name: Pinnipedia. Diet: Carnivore. Average Life Span In The Wild: Up to 30 years. Size: 3 feet to 20 feet long. Weight: 100 pounds to 4.4 tons. There are 33 species of...
Seals, walruses, whales, otters, and others rely on the back end of their bodies—their tail—to produce thrust. Instead, the sea lion tail is used like a rudder. By using their front flippers, sea lions are easily the fastest group of pinnipeds.
- Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) The Harbor seal is a marine mammal found in the coastal waters of the northern hemisphere. They have streamlined bodies and dappled coats ranging from silver-gray to brown or black.
- Gray Seal (Halichoerus grypus) The North Atlantic is home to Gray Seals and large pinnipeds with snouts resembling horses. This is why they are also called Horsehead Seals.
- Harp Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) Harp seals are a species found in the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans. They have a distinctive black harp or wishbone-shaped pattern contrasting their silvery-gray fur.
- Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida) The Ringed Seal is the smallest of the Arctic seals, featuring dark spots surrounded by light rings on their fur. As the smallest seal in the Arctic, they weigh 110 to 150 pounds and measure up to 5 feet long.
Feb 7, 2006 · Seal is a common name given to a diverse group of aquatic, generally marine mammals of the order Pinnipedia. There are two distinctive groups: eared and earless. All have streamlined bodies, limbs developed into flippers, eyes adapted for vision both in and out of the water and valved nostrils.
Feb 9, 2023 · What Kind of Creature Is the Seal? Seals are aquatic mammals, but they are more closely related to bears and skunks than any other marine mammals. That could be because they were once exclusively terrestrial, living entirely on dry land, but more about that later.