Are otters related to pinnipeds?
Two Alaska marine mammals are neither pinniped nor cetacean: the polar bear and sea otter. They are both fissipeds, “split-footed” members of the order Carnivora, and are more closely related to terrestrial carnivores, like weasels, than seals or whales.
Which pinnipeds give birth once a year?
MATING AND BREEDING Most male and female harbor seals become sexually active at ages three to six or seven years. Adult females usually mate and give birth to one pup every year; the size of a pup can be 1/4 to 1/3 that of the mother. The gestation period is 9-11 months.
What animals belong in the family of pinnipeds?
The pinnipeds are a group of 33 species of aquatic fin-footed mammals composing three families: the true seals (family Phocidae), the fur seals and sea lions (family Otariidae), and the walrus (family Odobenidae). Pinnipeds live only in rich marine environments and a few inland or tropical freshwater systems.
What are 4 reasons why pinnipeds come to land?
Pinnipeds are carnivores that have adapted to an amphibious marine existence. They forage at sea but most come ashore or onto ice at some time of the year to mate, give birth, suckle their young, or to molt.
Are bears related to pinnipeds?
“It gives us a glimpse of what the earliest stages of pinniped evolution looked like, before pinnipeds had flippers. This familiar group evolved from land-dwelling carnivores and their closest living relatives are the bears and the mustelids (otters, weasels, skunks and badgers).
Why are manatees not pinnipeds?
They are not related to manatees or sea otters Actually, they’re not. In fact, as surprising as it may sound, manatees are more closely related to elephants and hyraxes, despite sharing a few physical characteristics (streamlined body and flipper limbs) with pinnipeds and other aquatic animals like whales and dolphins.
How long is a seal pregnant for?
seven months
Mating and Gestation Since the seals’ gestation period is seven months, this delay means that the young will be born after the female reaches her breeding ground the following year. Adult females may mate several times before returning to the ocean.
Are pinnipeds monogamous?
Most males mate with multiple females, but some pinnipeds are monogamous. Mating and birth occur on coastal land or ice or on ice floes.
What is the Ursidae family?
The Ursidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 is a family of carnivores comprising 5 genera and 8 species.
What are pinnipeds?
Pinnipeds, commonly known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic marine mammals.
How did Otariidae and Phocidae evolve?
Mivart (1885) concluded that the pinniped family Otariidae was descended from an early ursid-like lineage, while the Phocidae was derived from an early lutrine (otter-like) mustelid lineage. This statement has subsequently become the classical thesis for pinniped polyphyly.
What are polygynous pinnipeds?
Polygynous species include elephant seals, grey seals and most otariids. Land-breeding pinnipeds tend to mate on islands where there are fewer terrestrial predators. Few islands are favorable for breeding, and those that are tend to be crowded. Since the land they breed on is fixed, females return to the same sites for many years.