https://www.earthmagazine.org/tags/pinniped/ Recent content in Pinniped on EARTH Magazine Hugo en-US American Geosciences Institute. All rights reserved. Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/seal-missing-link-found-arctic/ Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/seal-missing-link-found-arctic/ <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/seal-missing-link-found-arctic/i-1af-7d9-4-18.jpg" alt="A reconstructed skeleton of _Puijila darwini_, a possible missing link between modern seals, walruses and sea lions and their terrestrial ancestors. Canadian Museum of Nature" loading="eager" decoding="async"> <figcaption>A reconstructed skeleton of _Puijila darwini_, a possible missing link between modern seals, walruses and sea lions and their terrestrial ancestors. Canadian Museum of Nature</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/seal-missing-link-found-arctic/i-1b1-7d9-4-18.jpg" alt="Puijila darwini&#39;s skeleton. The fossil was discovered in Canada&#39;s High Arctic in 2007. Canadian Museum of Nature" loading="lazy" decoding="async"> <figcaption>Puijila darwini&#39;s skeleton. The fossil was discovered in Canada&#39;s High Arctic in 2007. Canadian Museum of Nature</figcaption> </figure> <p>A newly discovered web-footed mammal may be a &ldquo;missing link&rdquo; between land-based and marine pinnipeds, a group that includes seals, walruses and sea lions. The find, occurring on the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin&rsquo;s &quot;On the Origin of Species,&quot; may shed new light on the land-to-sea animal evolutionary theory.</p>