Taxonomy
The number of species within the genus has been questioned, primarily based on limited molecular data. The issue is complicated because some of the species are able to produce fertile hybrid (biology), hybrids. A recent review recommended the retention of seven species, deprecating the New Zealand fur seals to a subspecies of the South American fur seal, while also questioning the status of the Guadalupe fur seal. Other recent studies have indicated the genus may be paraphyly, paraphyletic, and some taxonomic reshuffling was previously done to account for this; however, more recent studies support it being Monophyly, monophyletic, with the alleged paraphyly being a consequence of incomplete lineage sorting.Extant Species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q776652 Arctocephalus, Mammal genera Taxa named by Frédéric Cuvier