PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Pusa (Arctic seal)

Osteichthyes - Carnivora - Phocidae

Taxonomy

Pusa was named by Scopoli (1777). It is extant.

It was reranked as Phoca (Pusa) by Allen (1880), Trouessart (1898), Friant (1947), McLaren (1960), Burns and Fay (1970).

It was assigned to Phoca by Allen (1880), Trouessart (1898), Friant (1947), McLaren (1960), Burns and Fay (1970); to Phocinina by Koretsky (2001); to Phocidae by Palmer (1904), Wilson and Reeder (2005); to Phocina by Fulton and Strobeck (2010); to Phocinae by Trouessart (1904), Berta (2002), Deméré et al. (2003), Koretsky and Barnes (2006), Berta (2018); and to Phocini by Scheffer and Rice (1963), Muizon (1981), Davis et al. (2004), Berta et al. (2018), Kienle and Berta (2019).

Species

P. caspica, P. hispida (syn. Phoca (Phoca) foetida, Callocephalus dimidiatus), P. sibirica

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1777	Pusa Scopoli p. 490
1880	Phoca (Pusa) Allen p. 464
1898	Phoca (Pusa) Trouessart p. 386
1904	Pusa Palmer p. 598
1904	Pusa Trouessart p. 284
1947	Phoca (Pusa) Friant p. 7
1960	Phoca (Pusa) McLaren p. 57
1963	Pusa Scheffer and Rice p. 3
1970	Phoca (Pusa) Burns and Fay p. 390 figs. Fig. 3
1981	Pusa Muizon p. 135
2001	Pusa Koretsky p. 85
2002	Pusa Berta p. 923
2003	Pusa Deméré et al. p. 49 figs. FIg. 3.3
2004	Pusa Davis et al. p. 365
2005	Pusa Wilson and Reeder
2006	Pusa Koretsky and Barnes p. 148
2010	Pusa Fulton and Strobeck p. 817 figs. Figure 1
2018	Pusa Berta p. 715 figs. Fig. 3C
2018	Pusa Berta et al. p. 210 figs. Fig. 2
2019	Pusa Kienle and Berta

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
class	Osteichthyes
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia

Rank	Name	Author
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Ferae	()
—	Pancarnivora
—	Carnivoramorpha	Wyss and Flynn 1993
—	Carnivoraformes	Flynn et al.
order	Carnivora
suborder	Caniformia	Kretzoi 1943
infraorder	Canoidea	(Simpson 1931)
superfamily	Arctoidea	Flower 1869
—	Panpinnipedia	Wolsan et al. 2020
—	Pinnipedimorpha
—	Pinnipedia	()
family	Phocidae	()
subfamily	Phocinae
genus	Pusa	Scopoli 1777

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. Pusa Scopoli 1777 [Arctic seal]

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Pusa caspica Nilsson 1837

Pusa hispida Schreber 1775 [ringed seal]

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Phoca ochotensis macrodens Allen 1902

Pusa hispida gichigensis Allen 1902

Pusa hispida ochotensis Pallas 1831

Invalid names: Phoca (Phoca) foetida Fabricius 1776 [synonym]

Pusa hispida saimensis Nordquist 1900

Pusa sibirica Gmelin 1788

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteuc

Ontogeny:

modification of partsuc

Environment:

marineuc

Locomotion:

actively mobilec

Life habit:

amphibiousuc

Diet:

piscivoref

Diet 2:

carnivoref

Reproduction:

viviparousuc

Created:

2005-06-08 10:11:09

Modified:

2005-06-08 12:11:09

Source: f = family, c = class, uc = unranked clade

References: Nowak 1991, Gingerich 2003, Hendy et al. 2009, Carreño and Cronin 1993

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Late/Upper Pleistocene to the top of the Holocene or 0.12900 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 0.0117 Ma

Collections (52 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)	0.129 - 0.0117	USA (Alaska)	Pusa hispida (20643)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	Netherlands	Pusa hispida (82530)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	USA (Vermont)	Phoca hispida (96880)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	Greenland	Phoca foetida (227040)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	USA (New York)	Pusa hispida (51025)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Canada (Newfoundland and Labrador)	Pusa hispida (175980 175981 175982 175983)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Greenland	Pusa hispida (162014 175984 175985 175988 175989 175990 175991 175993 175995 226353 227686 227816 227826 227868)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Finland	Pusa hispida (90107 90108 90110)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Canada (Nunavut)	Pusa hispida (175961 175962 175963 175964 175966 175967 175973 175974 175975 175976)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Estonia	Pusa hispida (195026)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Canada (Quebec)	Phoca sp. (51005)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	USA (Alaska)	Phoca hispida (90097) Pusa hispida (168676 175943 175948 175950 175951 175952)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Russian Federation	Phoca sibirica (171637) Pusa hispida (168675 175941 175942)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Svalbard and Jan Mayen	Pusa hispida (168677)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Netherlands	Phoca hispida (55533)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Canada (Yukon)	Pusa hispida (228443)