May 18
Nanophoca vitulinoides was a small earless seal that lived during the mid-Miocene (~14-12 million years ago) in what is now Belgium, which at the time was covered by the southern margin of the North Sea.
It was slightly smaller than any modern pinnipeds, no more than 1m long (3'3"), and had more mobile front and back flippers than modern earless seals — indicating it had a different swimming style than its living relatives, and that it may have been more mobile on land.
It also had a very dense skeleton, which would have made it a slower, less maneuverable swimmer. It may have fed on small prey on the seafloor in shallow coastal waters, similar to modern bearded seals.
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