Pinniped Families (Seals, Sea Lions)

This group gathers taxon/Mammal Families subcategory members that are themselves mammal families belonging to the pinnipeds, semi-aquatic marine carnivorans that spend part of their life on land or ice to breed, molt and rest. It spans Phocidae, the true or earless seal family, which lacks visible external ear flaps and moves on land with an awkward caterpillar-like wriggle rather than walking on its flippers, and Otariidae, the eared seal family that includes the sea lions and fur seals, distinguished by small visible external ears and an ability to rotate its rear flippers forward to walk and even run on land far more capably than a true seal can. Every family gathered here has evolved limbs modified into flippers for efficient swimming while retaining the ability to haul out onto land or ice, a dual-environment adaptation shared with the walrus family, Odobenidae, gathered here alongside its two close relatives.