#enaliarctos

[alphynix]

Enaliarctos mealsi, an early seal from the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene of California, USA (~23-20 mya).

Measuring about 1.5m long (5′), it was a transitional form between modern seals and their more otter-like ancestors. It was well-adapted for swimming with a flexible spine and flipper-like limbs, but unlike most modern pinnipeds it probably used both its front and hind flippers for propulsion.

Its teeth also still resembled those of terrestrial carnivores, with slicing carnassials at the back of its jaws. This suggests that it had to drag larger prey items back to shore in order to tear them apart and eat them, similar to the behavior of modern otters.

[dread-doughnuts]

Skeleton of Enaliarctos at the National Museum of Natural History. Enaliarctos was the most primitive known pinniped prior to the discovery of the otter-like Puijila in 2007. It possessed a short tail, webbed feet, slicing teeth, and an inner ear adapted to hearing under water. Both the forelimbs and hind limbs were used for swimming. It’s been suggested that Enaliarctos was the ancestor of all later pinnipeds; with the Otariids (fur seals and sea lions) developing to use their forelimbs for swimming, the Phocids (true seals) developing to use their hind limbs for swimming, and the Odobenids (walruses and their extinct relatives) maintaining the use of both their forelimbs and hind limbs in swimming.

[lostcitiesandforgottenbeast-blog]

Enaliarctos