''Homiphoca'' is an extinct genus of earless seals from the Pliocene of South Africa.

Taxonomy

The type species of ''Homiphoca'', ''H. capensis'', was originally described as a species of the dubious delphinoid '' Prionodelphis'', ''P. capensis''. Later analysis in 1980 showed that ''P. capensis'' was a pinniped and not a cetacean, necessitating erection of the new genus ''Homiphoca''. Cladistic analysis places ''Homiphoca'' as a member of Lobodontini, which includes the crabeater, Weddell, Ross, and leopard seals.

Fossils

''Homiphoca'' remains are known with certainty only from Langebaanweg, South Africa. Remains from Pliocene deposits in Florida and the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, have been referred to the genus, although Berta et al. (2015) questioned this referral based on results of their cladistic analysis of '' Pliophoca''.Annalisa Berta, Sarah Kienlead, Giovanni Bianucci & Silvia Sorbi A Reevaluation of Pliophoca etrusca (Pinnipedia, Phocidae) from the Pliocene of Italy: Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Implications Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology - Volume 35, Issue 1, 2015

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q30693599 Pliocene pinnipeds Monachines Prehistoric carnivoran genera Prehistoric pinnipeds Fossil taxa described in 1980