What’s the Difference Between Seals and Sea Lions?
#bigquestions #animals
At first glance, it might seem pretty easy to mistake a sea lion for a seal. As pinnipeds, which means “fin-footed” in Latin, these carnivorous marine mammals both have front flippers that help them glide through the water but also come ashore and hang out on the beach. To the naked eye, it could be hard to distinguish which is which.
Yet, while seals (specifically true seals) and sea lions might look similar, they come from different families in their taxonomy: Phocidae and Otariidae, respectively. Think of them as closely related cousins at a family reunion. Fur seals, which have thick fur, long flippers, and external ear flaps compared to true seals, are part of the Otariidae family, too. Meanwhile, walruses are in the same taxonomical suborder of pinnipeds as seals and sea lions, albeit they’re much larger, have big tusks, and belong to the family Odobenidae.
One of the biggest and most pronounced differences between seals and sea lions are their ears. The ears on a seal are internal with small openings on both sides of its head. They don’t have external ear flaps, whereas sea lions have external ears with small flaps, or pinnae. This is the best way to quickly identify the two animals at a glance.