Pinniped Pinniped Pinnipeds, commonly known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic marine mammals. They comprise the extant families Odobenidae (whose only living member is the walrus), Otariidae (the eared seals: sea lions and fur seals), and Phocidae (the earless seals, or true seals). There are 33 extant species of pinnipeds, and more than 50 extinct species have been described from fossils. While seals were historically thought to have descended from two ancestral lines, molecular evidence supports them as a monophyletic lineage (descended from one ancestral line). Pinnipeds belong to the order Carnivora and their
The Mammal Society surveying. A full list of these courses can be found here. The Society's president is Dr. Paul Chanin, and its current Chair is Dr Fiona Mathews. The Mammal Society publishes a number of informative books for conservationists, enthusiasts and consultants alike, as well as a high impact scientific journal, Mammal Review. In June 2012, The Mammal Society published UK BAP Mammals: Interim Guidelines for Survey Methodologies, Impact Assessment & Mitigation for species for which there was previously no available guidance. http://www.nhbs.com/title/view/196556 The definitive publication of The Mammal Society is the 4th edition of Mammals of The British Isles Handbook. The