Praepusa

Praepusa is an extinct genus of earless seals from Neogene marine deposits in Europe.

Praepusa
Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Clade: Pinnipedia
Family: Phocidae
Subfamily: Phocinae
Genus: †Praepusa
Kretzoi, 1941
Species
  • P. pannonica Kretzoi, 1941 (type species)
  • P. boeska Koretsky, Peters, and Rahmat, 2015
  • P. magyaricus Koretsky, 2003
  • P. tarchankutica Antoniuk and Koretsky 1984
  • P. vindobonensis (Toula, 1897)

There are five recognized species of Praepusa. P. boeska, known from Pliocene deposits in the Netherlands, is notable for being the smallest fossil seal, with a size comparable to the smallest extant seals of the genus Pusa.[1] The other species include P. magyaricus, found in Serravallian-age deposits in Hungary,[2] P. pannonica, known from Miocene marine deposits in the eastern Paratethys,[3] P. tarchankutica, known from the Miocene of the Ukraine,[4] and P. vindobonensis, known from Miocene marine deposits in central and eastern Europe.

References
  1. I. A. Koretsky, N. Peters, and S. Rahmat. 2015. New species of Praepusa (Carnivora, Phocidae, Phocinae) from the Netherlands supports east to west Neogene dispersal of true seals. Vestnik zoologii 49(1):57-66
  2. I. A. Koretsky. 2003. New finds of Sarmatian seals (Mammalia, Carnivora, Phocinae) from southern Hungary. Advances in Vertebrate Paleontology "Hen to Panta" 63-70.
  3. I. Koretsky. 2001. Morphology and systematics of Miocene Phocinae (Mammalia: Carnivora) from Paratethys and the North Atlantic region. Geologica Hungarica Series Palaeontologica 54:1-109
  4. A. A. Antoniuk and I. A. Koretsky. 1984. A new seal species from the middle Sarmatian deposits of the Crimean district of Ukraine. Vestnik Zoologii 1984(4):26-31


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