Phocinae

Phocinae is a subfamily of Phocidae whose distribution is found in the seas surrounding the Holarctic, with the Baikal seal being one of the world's only freshwater species of pinniped. What distinguishes them from other phocid seals is the presence of well-developed claws on their front and back flippers. The Phocinae is divided into three extant tribes: Erignathini, Cystophorini, and Phocini. Members of both Erignathini and Cystophorini have 34 chromosomes, while species in the tribe Phocini have 32 chromosomes.

Phocinae

jomilo75 · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
sealPBDB
Sits inside
PhocidaePBDB
Diet
piscivore, carnivorePBDB, for Phocidae
Life habit
amphibiousPBDB, for Pinnipedia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Pinnipedia

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 460 occurrencesMiocene — about 81 of 460 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 5 of 460 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 120 of 460 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 4 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 4 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 10 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 16 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 23 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 6 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 2 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.9–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 10 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 354 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

460 occurrences of Phocinae on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

460 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

27 formations

Calvert — 39.20°N, 75.60°WCalvert — 37.54°N, 77.43°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WCalvert — 38.40°N, 76.50°WCalvert — 38.53°N, 76.52°WCalvert — 38.17°N, 76.87°WCalvert — 38.61°N, 76.52°WCalvert — 38.67°N, 76.53°WCalvert — 38.17°N, 76.85°WCalvert — 38.38°N, 76.99°WCalvert — 37.77°N, 77.28°WPalos Verdes Sand — 34.00°N, 118.20°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.75°N, 118.28°WGubik — 55.30°N, 131.54°WGubik — 70.50°N, 153.50°WCromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.92°N, 1.34°EDiest — 51.22°N, 4.46°EChoptank — 38.38°N, 76.50°WChoptank — 38.47°N, 76.48°WChoptank — 38.16°N, 76.83°WAcredale — 36.79°N, 76.17°WBerchem — 51.21°N, 4.43°EBerchem — 51.17°N, 4.46°EPresumpscot — 44.80°N, 68.78°WPresumpscot — 44.70°N, 68.82°WDeist — 51.19°N, 4.46°EYorktown — 36.45°N, 77.08°WRed Crag — 51.96°N, 1.35°EPort Orford — 42.83°N, 124.55°WKattendijk — 51.21°N, 4.43°ESilver Bluff — 32.56°N, 80.29°WKempsville — 36.79°N, 76.17°WLeda Clay — 45.33°N, 65.83°WBlinovo — 45.27°N, 36.38°EGroote Heide — 52.04°N, 6.67°ESables d'Anvers — 51.21°N, 4.43°EYakataga — 60.06°N, 142.43°WBreda — 51.41°N, 5.82°ESt Marys — 38.13°N, 76.29°WChersonian — 46.97°N, 31.99°E

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The named rock units Phocinae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 389 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

1,391 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 308 sites for Phocinae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

133 references

Each of the 460 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 121 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Phocinae

Credit
jomilo75
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Phocinae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPhocidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1821