Pinnipeds (Seals, Sea Lions and the Walrus)

This group gathers Mammals subcategory members belonging to the clade Pinnipedia, the fin footed marine carnivorans, whose limbs have been reshaped into flippers for swimming while most species still return to land or sea ice to breed, molt and rest. It spans the earless or true seals, which move on land by awkwardly flexing their whole body since their hind flippers cannot rotate forward, the eared seals, the sea lions and fur seals, which can rotate their hind flippers under the body to walk more like a land mammal, and the walrus, the only living member of its own family, recognized by its long tusks used in dominance displays and to help haul its body onto ice. Pinnipeds are themselves nested within the broader carnivoran family tree, most closely related to bears and to the weasel family, though this atlas keeps them in their own group given their fully distinct, water adapted body plan.