The genus ''Arctocephalus'' consists of the southern
fur seals. ''Arctocephalus'' translates to "bear head."
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
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
paraphyletic
Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...
, and some taxonomic reshuffling was previously done to account for this; however, more recent studies support it being
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
, with the alleged paraphyly being a consequence of
incomplete lineage sorting.
Extant Species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q776652
Carnivoran genera
Taxa named by Frédéric Cuvier