<P> 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 closest living relatives are bears and musteloids ( weasels , raccoons , skunks , and red pandas ) , having diverged about 50 million years ago . </P>
<P> 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 closest living relatives are bears and musteloids ( weasels , raccoons , skunks , and red pandas ) , having diverged about 50 million years ago . </P>
what class of vertebrates do seals belong to
what class of vertebrates do seals belong to
mammals
mammals