| Otarioidea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A rookery ofwalruses (Odobenus rosmarus) | |
 | |
| A male and femaleSouth American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Clade: | Pinnipedia |
| Superfamily: | Otarioidea J. E. Gray, 1821 |
| Subclades | |
| |
Otarioidea is a superfamily ofpinnipeds that includes the familiesOdobenidae,Otariidae and their stem-relatives.[1][2] In the past when the pinnipeds were considered to be apolyphyletic group ofmarine mammals, a few points of cranial and dental morphology suggested that the otarioids originated from a line ofbears.[3] One extinct family,Enaliarctidae, was postulated to be otarioids that were a transitional clade betweenHemicyoninae (an extinct subfamily of dog-likebears) and Otariidae.[3] Recent comprehensive studies have, however, since the 1990s found pinnipeds to be amonophyletic clade of aquaticarctoids.[1] There are a few authorities that place desmatophocids and odobenids as sister taxa toPhocidae in the cladePhocomorpha based on a few minor physiological features.[4]
