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Phoca
Sign in to savePhoca ( ) is a genus of the earless seals, (Phocidae). It now contains just two species, the common seal (or harbour seal) and the spotted seal (or largha seal). Several species formerly listed under this genus have been split into the genera Pusa, Pagophilus, and Histriophoca. Until recently, Phoca largha has been considered a subspecies of Phoca vitulina but now is considered its own species. For this reason, the fossil history of the genus is unclear, and it has formerly been used as wastebasket taxon for a number of fossils of uncertain affinity.
OverviewAI-generated
Phoca is a genus of marine mammals within the family Phocidae. It belongs to the order Carnivora, class Mammalia, and phylum Chordata in the kingdom Animalia. The genus was established by Linnaeus in 1758 and is currently accepted as a valid taxon. Its habitats include marine, brackish, and freshwater environments.
Records for Phoca are held by institutions such as NHMUK, USNM, UAM, UCMP, and MSB, with collections located in the United Kingdom and the United States. The Encyclopedia of Life describes the genus as extinct.
Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Encyclopedia of Life, Gbif Occ, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderCarnivora
- FamilyPhocidae
Extinct.
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 602
- With media
- 35
- Family
- Phocidae
- Collections
- NHMUK, USNM, UAM, UCMP, MSB, AMNH
- Recorded in
- United Kingdom, United States
Research
1,483 papers- Derivation of Ringed Seal (Phoca hispida) Induced Multipotent Stem Cells.Cellular reprogramming · 2021
- A harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) can learn geometrical relationships between landmarks.The Journal of experimental biology · 2022
- Urinary glucocorticoids in harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) pups during rehabilitation.General and comparative endocrinology · 2023
- CAUSES AND TRENDS OF HARBOR SEAL (PHOCA VITULINA) MORTALITY ALONG THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST, CANADA, 2012-2020.Journal of wildlife diseases · 2023
- Congenital Diseases in Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina richardsii) from the Salish Sea.Journal of wildlife diseases · 2021
via PubMed
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
3 sectionsContents
- Species
- Mating ecology
- References
Phoca ( ) is a genus of the earless seals, (Phocidae). It now contains just two species, the common seal (or harbour seal) and the spotted seal (or largha seal). Several species formerly listed under this genus have been split into the genera Pusa, Pagophilus, and Histriophoca. Until recently, Phoca largha has been considered a subspecies of Phoca vitulina but now is considered its own species. For this reason, the fossil history of the genus is unclear, and it has formerly been used as wastebasket taxon for a number of fossils of uncertain affinity.
==Species== Currently there are two confirmed members:
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Phoca” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.