Marine mammals. Pinnipeds

• One of the largest groups of marine mammals is that of the pinnipeds, found exclusively in cold waters, which includes the sea lions, elephant seals, seals, and walruses. They are carnivores, the same as dogs, cats and tigers, but they are included in this group because of their special adaptations to living in an aquatic environment. Although they can live for several months at sea, they have to return to land to reproduce. That is the time when they congregate in large numbers to form what are known as colonies. What maintains these creatures links with the land, then, is their reproductive and rearing processes.
• As they live both in water and on land, their bodies are adapted to moving about in both environments. Their fore limbs have been modified into flippers, with the bones of the arm shortened and those of the hand lengthened. Their back limbs have been similarly adapted. Their body has an overall hydrodynamic profile that facilitates swimming, which they do by coordinating body and flipper movements. Although the pinnipeds are totally adapted to life in the water and have a thick layer of fat that serves as thermal insulation and energy reserve, their bodies are completely covered with a dense layer of short fur which it sheds from time to time, just as land mammals do.
• The members of this group of mammals feed mainly on fish and squid, although some species also eat mollusks and crustaceans.

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