Objectives:
These seals are having way to much fun with a ball in the ice. Join in the fun. Good Luck!
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Diving - Pinnipeds can hold their breath for nearly two hours underwater by conserving oxygen. When the animal starts diving its heart rate slows to about one-tenth of its normal rate. The arteries squeeze shut and the sense organs and nervous system are the only organs that receive normal blood flow. Pinnipeds are able to resist more pain and fatigue caused by lactic acid accumulation than other mammals. However, once they return to the surface, they need time to recover and normalize their body chemistry.
Evolution - Recent molecular evidence suggests that pinnipeds evolved from a bearlike ancestor about 23 million years ago during the late Oligocene or early Miocene epochs, a transitional period between the warmer Paleogene and cooler Neogene period. The earliest fossil Pinniped that has been found is Puijila darwini, of about 23 million years ago. Pujilla had heavy limbs, indicative of upright movement on land, and flattened phalanges, indicating that they were probably webbed, but not yet flippers.
Another (more advanced) early pinniped is Enaliarctos, which lived 24 - 22 million years ago. It is believed to have been a good swimmer, but to have been able to move on land as well as in water, more like an otter than like modern pinnipeds. There has been longstanding debate as to whether walruses diverged from a common otariid-phocid ancestor, or whether the phocids diverged before a common otariid-odobenid ancestor. The most recent evidence suggest that the latter hypothesis is more likely.
Diet - Pinnipeds are carnivorous, eating fish, shellfish, squid, and other marine creatures. Most are generalist feeders, but some specialize. For example, Ross Seals and Southern Elephant Seals mainly feed on squid. Crabeater Seals eat mostly krill, and Ringed Seals almost exclusively consume crustaceans.
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