What animals are in the pinniped group?

What animals are in the pinniped group?

Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses The word “pinniped” means fin- or flipper-footed and refers to the marine mammals that have front and rear flippers. This group includes seals, sea lions and walruses — animals that live in the ocean but are able to come on land for long periods of time.

Which is not a pinniped?

Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. They are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, usually excluding dolphins and porpoises.

What is the difference between a cetacean and a pinniped?

Modern marine mammals include: Cetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), Sirenia (sea cows and dugongs) and Pinnipedia (seals, sea lions, and walruses). Pinnipeds are semi-aquatic and all pinnipeds retain hind limbs. In pinnipeds, both the fore and hindlimbs are modified into flippers.

What is the largest species of pinniped?

elephant seal
Did you know that the largest pinniped is the elephant seal? While walrus adult males can grow to be more than 2 tons (as much as a car), male elephant seals can weigh over 3 tons (even larger than a polar bear!).

Is a sea lion a pinniped?

Seals, sea lions, and walruses belong to a group of marine mammals called pinnipeds, referring to their flippered feet.

Is a penguin a pinniped?

Although pinnipeds are widespread, most species prefer the colder waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They feed largely on fish and marine invertebrates; a few, such as the leopard seal, feed on large vertebrates, such as penguins and other seals.

Is a manatee a pinniped?

The distinctive characteristics of pinnipeds have many wondering: Are manatees pinnipeds? Actually, they’re not. Sea otters also look and behave like pinnipeds, plus they’re the largest member of the weasel family.

Is a whale a pinniped?

Marine mammals are classified into four different taxonomic groups: cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses), sirenians (manatees and dugongs), and marine fissipeds (polar bears and sea otters).

What family of marine mammal will never go on land?

The order Cetacea includes two suborders Odontoceti – “toothed whales” and Mysticeti – “baleen whales.” All species are completely aquatic and they cannot survive on land.

Is a walrus a pinniped?

Walrus are the largest pinniped. Seals, sea lions, and walruses belong to a group of marine mammals called pinnipeds, referring to their flippered feet. Seals (true seals or earless seals) have no external ear flaps.

Is an otter a pinniped?

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.

Is a duck a mammal?

Ducks are neither mammals nor amphibians. They are birds. All birds belong to the taxonomic class Aves.