Last modified: Tuesday October 31st, 2000

order Carnivora - superfamily Pinnipedia
family Otariidae		Sea lions and fur seals
		Oorrobben
		Ohrenrobben
		Øreseler
		Merileijonat
		Sjölejon
		Otaries
		Otarie, Leoni marini
		Lobos marinos
family Phocidae		True seals
		Zeehonden
		Seehunde
		Ekte seler
		Hylkeet
		Sälar
		Phoques
		Foche
		Focas
family Odobenidae		Walruses
		Walrussen
		Walrösser
		Hvalross
		Mursut
		Valrossar
		Morses
		Morsas

Main characteristics
Otariidae: Eared seals	Phocidae: True seals	Odobenidae: Walruses
External ears	No external ears	No external ears Large tusks
Distinct small tail	Distinct small tail	No distinct tail
Hind limbs can be folded forward and can be used for walking on land. Front flippers can support the body when walking on land.	Their hind limbs cannot be folded forward. On land they move by hopping on their belly, without the support of their limbs.	Hind limbs can be folded forward and can be used for walking on land. Front flippers can support the body when walking on land.
The front flippers are the main source of propulsion when swimming.	In the water, they propel themselves by moving their hind flippers left and right.	The hind flippers are the main source of propulsion when swimming.

General references

FAO Advisory Committee on Marine Resources (1979)

Mammals in the Seas, volume II: Pinniped species summaries and report on sirenians.
FAO Fisheries Series No. 5, Vol II.

Ridgway, S.H., Harrison, R.J. (eds.)

Handbook of Marine Mammals, vol. 1: The walrus, sea lions, fur seals and sea otter, 235 pp. Academic Press Inc., Ltd, London (1981)

Ridgway, S.H., Harrison, R.J. (eds.) (1981)

Handbook of Marine Mammals, vol. 2: Seals
Academic Press Inc., Ltd, London

King, J.E. (1983)

Seals of the world, 2nd edition.
British Museum (Natural History), London and Oxford University Press, Oxford, 240pp.

Reijnders, P.J.H., S. Brasseur, J.D. van der Toorn, P. van der Wolf, I.L. Boyd, J. Harwood, D.M. Lavigne and L.F. Lowry (1993)

Seals, Fur Seals, Sea Lions, and Walrus.
IUCN/SSC Seal Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland. 88 pp.

Rice, D.W. (1998)

Marine mammals of the world - Systematics and distribution
Society of Marine Mammalogy Special Publication Number 4, 231 pp.

Sources for the names in different languages:

Note: There are no set rules for non-scientific animal names. The lists of common names provided in the following pages is by no means exhaustive and there can be any number of different regional names for a certain species within any language. Some species may not have a common name in certain languages. The lists of common names are based on the sources listed below. Corrections and/or additions are welcome. If you wish to provide a list of common names in a language not yet listed on this site, you can download a species list here. This is a Word document. Return it by e-mail to jaap@rosmarus.com 

	M. Camm and B. Stonehouse (1983) (Translation: M.A. IJsseling & A. Scheyground) Zeezoogdieren. Thieme, Zutphen, the Netherlands
	A. Collet (1999) (Translation: Jutta Koch) Tanz mit den Walen. Econ & List Taschenbuch Verlag, München, Germany
	D. W. MacDonald (ed.) (1985) (Translation: Ragnar Frislid) Verdens dyr - Havets pattedyr. J.W. Cappelens Forlag A-S, Oslo, Norway
	Finnish names courtesy University of Helsinki and Tampereen Särkänniemi OY.
	B. Stonehouse and M. Camm (1983) (Translation: Lennart Stenberg) Haverts däggdjur. Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm, Sweden.
	Italian names kindly provided by Alessandro Bortolotto (Zoönomia)
	T.A. Jefferson, S. Leatherwood and M.A. Webber (1996) Marine mammals of the world. ETI World Biodiversity Database CD-ROM series. Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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