An Overview on the Evolutionary History of Tropical Pinnipeds

The evolutionary history of pinnipeds in tropical seas is complex, but has experienced noticeable advancements in knowledge during the last three decades. Although our knowledge of pinniped biogeography is improved, several questions still remain due to gaps in our understanding. Especially important are paleontological studies of South American (Muizon 1978, 1981, Cozzuol 2001, Soibelzon and Bond 2013), South African (Hendey and Repenning 1972, Muizon and Hendey 1980) fossils, and molecular phylogenetic analyses (Yonezawa et al. 2008, Churchill et al. 2014). For instance, Churchill et al. (2014) provides a new combined evidence of phylogeny for the Otariidae, and extensively discusses their biogeography and timing of expansion into the southern hemisphere.