Phoca

Phoca
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Clade:	Pinnipedia
Family:	Phocidae
Tribe:	Phocini
Genus:	Phoca; Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
	Phoca vitulina; Linnaeus, 1758
Species
	P. largha; P. vitulina; P. mutica?;

Phoca (/ˈfoʊkə/ FOH-kə)^[1] is a genus of the earless seals, within the family Phocidae. It now contains just two species, the common seal (or harbour seal) and the spotted seal (or largha seal). Several species formerly listed under this genus have been split into the genera Pusa, Pagophilus, and Histriophoca. Until recently, Phoca largha has been considered a subspecies of Phoca vitulina but now is considered its own species. For this reason, the fossil history of the genus is unclear, and it has formerly been used as wastebasket taxon for a number of fossils of uncertain affinity.^[2]

^ "Phoca". The Chambers Dictionary (9th ed.). Chambers. 2003. ISBN 0-550-10105-5.
^ Berta, A. & Churchill, M. (2012). "Pinniped Taxonomy: evidence for species and subspecies". Mammal Review. 42 (3): 207–234. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.2011.00193.x.

[1] "Phoca". The Chambers Dictionary (9th ed.). Chambers. 2003. ISBN 0-550-10105-5.

[Berta2012-2] Berta, A. & Churchill, M. (2012). "Pinniped Taxonomy: evidence for species and subspecies". Mammal Review. 42 (3): 207–234. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.2011.00193.x.

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