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Pinnipeds
- The oldest seal relative paleontologists have uncovered dates to about 24 million years ago. Throughout their entire history, pinnipeds have been tied to the land, at least in some way.
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-did-seals-and-sea-lions-never-commit-to-a-life-fully-at-sea-180983926/Why Did Seals and Sea Lions Never Commit to a Life Fully at ...
May 24, 2024 · There are two fossil candidates for what could be considered the first seal ancestors, called Potamotherium and Puijila. Both were likely living similar lifestyles as otter-like animals, but the issue is that they come from completely different parts of the world.
While seals were historically thought to have descended from two ancestral lines, molecular evidence supports them as a monophyletic group (descended from one ancestor).
Mar 20, 2024 · Today’s seals and sea lions are not direct descendants of Puijila, but the otter-like mammal represents what pinniped ancestors were like at one point in the distant past.
- Riley Black
Apr 21, 2009 · Researchers have found a fossilized ancestor of modern seals and sea lions that they say represents an evolutionary step in the organisms' transition from land-dwelling mammals to the aquatic creatures they are today.
Nov 13, 2020 · It was previously thought that all true seals originated in the North Atlantic, with some later crossing the equator to live as far south as Antarctica. Eomonachus now shows that many ancient seals, including the ancestors of today’s monk, elephant, and Antarctic seals, actually evolved in the Southern Hemisphere.
Nov 10, 2020 · Eomonachus now shows that many ancient seals, including the ancestors of today's monk, elephant and Antarctic seals, actually evolved in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Apr 22, 2009 · Scientists have found the first skeleton of a land-dwelling relative of seals, sea lions, and walruses. The 20-million- to 24-million-year-old Arctic fossil sports webbed feet instead of flippers, providing a long-sought glimpse of what such animals looked like before they dove into the sea.
