pinniped

pinniped
pinnipedian /pin'euh pee"dee euhn/, adj., n.
/pin"euh ped'/, adj.
1. belonging to the Pinnipedia, a suborder of carnivores with limbs adapted to an aquatic life, including the seals and walruses.
n.
2. a pinniped animal.
[1835-45; < NL Pinnipedia. See PINNA, -I-, -PED, -IA]

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Any member of the three existing families of aquatic, fin-footed mammals that constitute the suborder Pinnipedia (order Carnivora; see carnivore).

They include the Odobenidae (see walrus) and the Phocidae and Otariidae (see seal).

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▪ mammal suborder
Introduction
 any of a group of 33 species of aquatic, fin-footed mammals comprising seals, sea lions, and the walrus. Pinnipeds live only in rich marine environments and a few inland or tropical freshwater systems.

 Shaped like torpedoes, pinnipeds have wide torsos and narrower hindquarters. They are extremely awkward on land but swift and graceful in the water. Their slitlike nostrils can be closed underwater, and externally the ears are either small or entirely absent. All have short fur, the walrus having almost none, and the tail is vestigial. Length ranges from 1.1 to 6.5 metres (3.6 to 21 feet), and weights range from about 30 kg (66 pounds) in some female fur seals to 3,700 kg in male elephant seals (genus Mirounga).

Natural history
  Fur seals and sea lions (family Otariidae) and walrus (family Odobenidae) use their sizable forelimbs for propulsion, whereas true, or earless, seals (family Phocidae) use mostly the hind flippers. Despite the great size of some species, all are agile and easily capture fish in open water. Pinnipeds are visual predators, and, even though they may lack external ears, they generally have excellent hearing, especially underwater. All pinnipeds also have sensitive whiskers that help them detect prey. Diet is strictly carnivorous, but pinnipeds eat a variety of prey ranging in size from krill, which is filtered from the water by the complex cheek teeth, to, in the case of the leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), penguins and even other pinnipeds. Most, however, rely primarily on fish, crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, shrimp), cephalopods (squid and octopus), and mollusks (shellfish).

 Pinnipeds such as the Ross seal (Ommatophoca rossii) may be solitary at certain times of the year, but most are usually gregarious, much more so than terrestrial carnivores. During the breeding season more than a million may congregate on an island. Males are sometimes larger than females, and among elephant seals males can be five times larger. Their greater size allows them to better defend harems of many females. In other pinnipeds the sexes are similar in size. Most males mate with multiple females, but some pinnipeds are monogamous. Mating and birth occur on coastal land or ice or on ice floes. Implantation of the fertilized eggs is delayed, with the result that gestation can last from 8 to 15 months. Young seals are called pups, and single offspring are the rule, with twins occurring rarely. At birth pups are often a different colour than their parents. After the breeding season most pinnipeds are pelagic (open-sea dwellers), traveling long distances either alone or in small groups, though some species do not migrate from the breeding grounds. The young mature in less than 6 years (longer in walrus), and some species can live more than 30 years in the wild. They are preyed (predation) upon by sharks, killer whales, leopard seals, and polar bears. Pinnipeds are also hunted by humans for their skin, meat, and fat (blubber). Walrus are also hunted for their ivory tusks.

Classification and paleontology
      The word pinniped means “feather-foot” in Latin, a reference to the winglike flippers. As a group, Pinnipedia is often considered a separate order distinct from other carnivores (order Carnivora). Pinnipeds derived from a common bearlike ancestor during the late Oligocene Epoch, diverging some 25 to 27 million years ago into the presently known families.

Suborder Pinnipedia (pinnipeds)
 33 species in 18 genera belonging to 3 families, found primarily in marine waters.
      Family Phocidae (true, or earless, seals)
 18 species in 10 genera.

      Family Otariidae ( sea lions and fur seals)
 14 species in 7 genera.

      Family Odobenidae ( walrus)
 1 Arctic species.

Serge Lariviere

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • pinniped — [pin′ipē′dē ənpin′i ped΄] adj. [< ModL Pinnipedia < L pinnapes, pinnipes, having winged feet < pinna, feather, fin (see PEN2) + pes,FOOT] having finlike feet or flippers n. a pinniped carnivore, as a seal or walrus: Also pinnipedian… …   English World dictionary

  • Pinniped — Pin ni*ped, n. [L. pinna feather, fin + pes, pedis, a foot: cf. F. pinnip[ e]de.] (Zo[ o]l.) (a) One of the Pinnipedia; a seal. (b) One of the Pinnipedes. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pinniped — (n.) 1842, from Mod.L. pinnipedia, suborder of aquatic carnivorous mammals (seals and walruses), lit. having feet as fins, from L. pinna fin + pes, gen. pedis foot (see FOOT (Cf. foot) (n.)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Pinniped — Taxobox name = Pinnipeds fossil range = Late Oligocene Recent image width = 250px image caption = Common Seal ( Phoca vitulina ) regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata subphylum = Vertebrata classis = Mammalia ordo = Carnivora subordo = Caniformia… …   Wikipedia

  • pinniped — noun Etymology: ultimately from Latin pinna + ped , pes foot more at foot Date: 1866 any of an order or suborder (Pinnipedia) of aquatic carnivorous mammals (as a seal or walrus) with all four limbs modified into flippers • pinniped adjective …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • pinniped — pin•ni•ped [[t]ˈpɪn əˌpɛd[/t]] adj. 1) bio tax belonging to the Pinnipedia, a grouping of carnivorous aquatic mammals that have their limbs broadened and flattened into flippers, as seals and walruses 2) mam a pinniped animal • Etymology:… …   From formal English to slang

  • pinniped — adj. & n. adj. denoting any aquatic mammal with limbs ending in fins. n. a pinniped mammal. Etymology: L pinna fin + pes ped foot …   Useful english dictionary

  • pinniped mammal — noun aquatic carnivorous mammal having a streamlined body specialized for swimming with limbs modified as flippers • Syn: ↑pinniped, ↑pinnatiped • Hypernyms: ↑aquatic mammal • Hyponyms: ↑seal, ↑walrus, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • pinniped — 1. noun Any of various large marine mammals belonging to the superfamily (formerly conisederd a suborder) Pinnipedia comprising walruses, eared seals and earless seals. 2. adjective Pertaining to such a mammal …   Wiktionary

  • pinniped — A member of the suborder Pinnipedia, aquatic carnivorous mammals with all four limbs modified into flippers ( e.g., seal, walrus). [L. pinna, feather (wing), + pes (ped ), foot] …   Medical dictionary

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