Puijila darwini
Sign in to savePuijila darwini is an extinct species of stem-pinniped (seal) which lived during the Miocene about 21 to 24 million years ago. About a metre (3 feet) long, the animal had only minimal physical adaptations for swimming. Unlike modern pinnipeds, it did not have flippers and its shape was otter-like, albeit more specialized; its skull and teeth are the features that most clearly indicate that it is a seal.
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Puijila darwini (fossil).jpg
Show 7 more facts
- taxon rank
- species
- Commons category
- Puijila
- taxon name
- Puijila darwini
- start time
- 24000000-0
- end time
- 21000000-0
- short name
- P. darwini
- taxon author citation
- Rybczynski et al., 2009
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Encyclopedic overview
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Puijila darwini is an extinct species of stem-pinniped (seal) which lived during the Miocene about 21 to 24 million years ago. About a metre (3 feet) long, the animal had only minimal physical adaptations for swimming. Unlike modern pinnipeds, it did not have flippers and its shape was otter-like, albeit more specialized; its skull and teeth are the features that most clearly indicate that it is a seal.
It is considered to be the most primitive pinnipedimorph yet found. The genus name is an Inuktitut word for a young seal; the species name honours Charles Darwin. The holotype and only known specimen is a nearly complete fossil skeleton found in the Haughton Formation on Devon Island in the high Canadian Arctic. It is housed at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Puijila darwini” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.