PBDB Taxon

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

Otaria (sea lion)

Mammalia - Carnivora - Otariidae

Taxonomy

Otaria was named by Peron (1816) [Sepkoski's age data: Q Plei R]. It is extant. It is the type genus of Otariini.

It was assigned to Arctocephalina by Gray (1866); to Otariina by Gray (1825) and Gray (1871); to Phocidae by Gray (1850) and Ameghino (1889); to Otariini by Mitchell (1968); to Carnivora by Sepkoski (2002); to Otariinae by Scheffer and Rice (1963), Muizon (1978), Berta and Deméré (1986), Barnes (1989), Riedman (1990), McKenna and Bell (1997) and Deméré et al. (2003); to Otariidae by Gill (1866), Lydekker (1885), Trouessart (1898), Trouessart (1904), Palmer (1904), Turner (1912), Zittel (1925), Oliver Schneider (1926), Repenning and Tedford (1977), Bergqvist et al. (1999), Berta et al. (2006), Berta (2009), Boessenecker and Churchill (2015) and Berta (2018); and to Otariidae by Wilson and Reeder (2005), Valenzuela-Toro et al. (2013), Berta et al. (2018) and Tsuzuku and Kohno (2020).

Species

O. byronia (syn. O. flavescens), O. fischeri, Phoca flavescens

Synonyms

Platyrhynchus was named by Cuvier (1827). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Otaria by Gill (1866), Gray (1871), Trouessart (1898), Trouessart (1904) and McKenna and Bell (1997).

It was assigned to Otariidae by Palmer (1904).
Otoes was named by Fischer (1817). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Callotaria by Allen (1902); it was synonymized subjectively with Otaria by Gill (1866), Trouessart (1904) and McKenna and Bell (1997).
Pontoleo was named by Gloger (1841). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Otaria by McKenna and Bell (1997).

It was assigned to Otariidae by Palmer (1904).
Phoca flavescens was named by Shaw (1800). It is extant.

It was considered a nomen nudum by Allen (1902).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1800	Phoca flavescens Shaw
1816	Otaria Peron p. 37
1817	Otoes Fischer
1825	Otaria Gray p. 340
1827	Platyrhynchus Cuvier
1841	Pontoleo Gloger p. 164
1850	Otaria Gray p. 46
1866	Otaria Gill p. 7
1866	Otaria Gray p. 57
1871	Otaria Gray p. 4
1885	Otaria Lydekker p. 196
1889	Otaria Ameghino p. 343
1898	Otaria Trouessart p. 369
1904	Otaria Palmer p. 486
1904	Platyrhynchus Palmer p. 545
1904	Pontoleo Palmer p. 557
1904	Otaria Trouessart p. 279
1912	Otaria Turner p. 168
1925	Otaria Zittel p. 78
1926	Otaria Oliver Schneider p. 145
1963	Otaria Scheffer and Rice p. 2
1968	Otaria Mitchell p. 1897
1977	Otaria Repenning and Tedford p. 73
1978	Otaria Muizon p. 184
1986	Otaria Berta and Deméré p. 122
1989	Otaria Barnes p. 23
1990	Otaria Riedman p. 58 figs. Table 2
1997	Otaria McKenna and Bell p. 254
1999	Otaria Bergqvist et al. p. 31
2002	Otaria Sepkoski
2003	Otaria Deméré et al. p. 49 fig. 3.3
2005	Otaria Wilson and Reeder
2006	Otaria Berta et al. p. 496
2009	Otaria Berta p. 863
2013	Otaria Valenzuela-Toro et al. p. 219
2015	Otaria Boessenecker and Churchill figs. Fig. 2
2018	Otaria Berta p. 713 figs. Fig. 2
2018	Otaria Berta et al. p. 210 figs. Fig. 5
2020	Otaria Tsuzuku and Kohno p. 6

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	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
—	Theriamorpha	(Rowe 1993)

Rank	Name	Author
—	Theriiformes	()
—	Trechnotheria
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Ferae	()
—	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	()
superfamily	Otarioidea
family	Otariidae	()
genus	Otaria	Peron 1816

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. Otaria Peron 1816 [sea lion]

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Otaria byronia Blainville 1820

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Invalid names: Otaria flavescens Shaw 1800 [synonym]

†Otaria fischeri Gervais and Ameghino 1880

Invalid names: Otoes Fischer 1817 [synonym], Phoca flavescens Shaw 1800 [nomen nudum], Platyrhynchus Cuvier 1827 [synonym], Pontoleo Gloger 1841 [synonym]

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:

piscivoret

Reproduction:

viviparousuc

Created:

2005-06-08 10:11:09

Modified:

2005-06-08 12:11:09

Source: t = tribe, c = class, uc = unranked clade

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

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Tortonian to the top of the Holocene or 11.62000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 7.246 Ma

Collections (8 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	Argentina (Entre Rios)	Otaria fischeri (13626)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul)	Otaria byronia (59978)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Brazil	Otaria flavescens (90118)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Chile	Otaria byronia (215543) Otaria sp. (168605)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Argentina	Otaria flavescens (162173) Otaria sp. (168604)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul)	Otaria byronia (68025)