Mar 2, 2020
Source for Pleistocene semantorids plz
http://fossilworks.org/?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=77120
Necromites nestoris, known from the Calabrian stage of the Pleistocene (~1.8 - 0.8 Ma) in Azerbaijan!
It’s somewhat poorly studied and taxonomically “problematic” but appears to have been more aquatic than other semantorids (and possibly marine), and its phylogenetic position has been a little unstable, sometimes being classified as a true phocid instead of a semantorid. (Also some paleontologists still consider semantorids to be musteloids, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
If it was indeed a semantorid and a stem-pinniped it may have been one that was convergently getting more seal-like than otter-like!
