| Northern seals | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Harbor seal,Phoca vitulina | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Subfamily: | Phocinae Gray, 1821 |
| Tribes and genera | |
| |
Phocinae (known colloquially as "Northern seals") is a subfamily ofPhocidae whose distribution is found in the seas surrounding theHolarctic, with theBaikal seal (Pusa sibirica) being the world's onlyfreshwater species ofpinniped.[1] What distinguishes them from other phocid seals is the presence of well-developed claws on their front and back flippers.[2][3] The Phocinae is divided into three extanttribes:Erignathini (represented by the sole extantbearded sealErignathus barbatus),Cystophorini (another extant monotypic tribe represented byhooded sealCystophora cristata), andPhocini (represented by the rest of the other surviving species in the subfamily). Members of both Erignathini and Cystophorini have 34 chromosomes, while species in the tribe Phocini have 32 chromosomes.[2]
Below is a composite phylogeny of the phocine genera after Berta & Churchill (2012),[4] Dewaele et al. (2018),[5] and Koretsky & Rahmat (2013):[6]
| Phocinae | |
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