Erignathus
From The Encyclopedia of Earth
July 18, 2010, 12:25 pm
May 13, 2011, 10:21 am
 Bearded seal with satellite-linked data recorder attached to it for research purposes. Source: NOAA |
Conservation Status  |
|
Scientific Classification Kingdom: Anamalia (Animals) |
Erignathus is a genus of just one species (a “monotypic” genus) within the true seal family of nineteen species - the Bearded seal (also called Square Flipper seal).
Together with the families of Eared seals and Walruses, True seals form the group of marine mammals known as pinnipeds.
The name Bearded seal derives from the species long, bushy whiskers.
There are two recognized subspecies of this seal (though there is some debate about the validity of this):
- Atlantic Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus barbatus)
- Pacific Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus nauticus)
For details, see Bearded seal.
Further Reading
- Erignathus barbatus (Erxleben, 1777), Encyclopedia of Life (accessed 31 May, 2010)
- Erignathus barbatus , Lutz, H., 2000, Animal Diversity Web (accessed 31 May, 2010)
- Bearded Seal, Seal Conservation Society (accessed 31 May, 2010)
- Erignathus barbatus, IUCN 2008 Red List (accessed 31 May, 2010)
- The Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses, Marianne Riedman, University of California Press, 1991 ISBN: 0520064984
- Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, Bernd Wursig, Academic Press, 2002 ISBN: 0125513402
- Marine Mammal Research: Conservation beyond Crisis, edited by John E. Reynolds III, William F. Perrin, Randall R. Reeves, Suzanne Montgomery and Timothy J. Ragen, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005 ISBN: 0801882559
- Walker's Mammals of the World, Ronald M. Nowak, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN: 0801857899
- Bearded Seal, MarineBio.org (accessed 31 May, 2010)
