Geologica Hungarica - Series Palaeontologica 54. [antikvár]

GEOLOGICA HUNGARICA SERIES PALAEONTOLOGICA Abstract This manuscript provides a systematic revision of North Atlantic and Paratethyan Phocinae (true seals; Mammalia; Carnivora), based on associations of isolated skeletal elements, which are hypothesized by analogy with ecomorphs of Recent seals. In fossil and Recent phocines, five main ecomorphotypes of mandibular, humeral, and femoral structure can be distinguished, and they are defined and considered in detail herein. Historically, the genus Phoca has included both large seals with a monachine type of organization of the postcranial elements and small seals of a phocine type. In this study special attention is drawn to the possibility of using differences in morphology of the postcranial skeleton for the purpose of generic, and to a lesser degree, of specific diagnosis of Phocinae. This analysis provides a foundation for revision of the group, and clarification of the systematic characteristics of its members. Based on this revision, I have reclassifíed certain species. In addition, I describe fossil materials from the southern European region of the former USSR, Eastern and Western Europe, and the eastern part of North America. New material allows revision of generic diagnoses, permitting a partial revision of the subfamily Phocinae, and proposes a method for description and morphometric treatment of this group. This corresponds to methods used in analyses both of Recent representatives of this subfamily and, with somé modifications, of fossil material. Somé problems of classification and phylogenetic relationships of the phocids are considered also.