Editing Eared seal (section)

{{Short description|Family of marine mammals}}
{{automatic taxobox
| name = Eared seals
| image = Neophoca_cinerea.JPG
| image_caption = An [[Australian sea lion]] (''Neophoca cinerea'')
| fossil_range = [[Miocene]]–[[Holocene]],<ref name=eotaria/> {{Fossil range|17.1|0}}
| taxon = Otariidae
| authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1825
| type_genus = ''[[Otaria]]''
| type_genus_authority = [[François Péron|Péron]], 1816
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = ''[[Arctocephalus]]''<br/>
''[[Callorhinus]]''<br/>
{{extinct}}''[[Eotaria]]''<br/>
''[[Eumetopias]]''<br/>
''[[Neophoca]]''<br/>
''[[Otaria]]''<br/>
''[[Phocarctos]]''<br/>
{{extinct}}''[[Pithanotaria]]''<br/>
{{extinct}}''[[Proterozetes]]''<br/>
{{extinct}}''[[Thalassoleon]]''<br/>
''[[Zalophus]]''
}}

An '''eared seal''', '''otariid''', or '''otary''' is any member of the [[marine mammal]] family '''Otariidae''', one of three groupings of [[pinnipeds]]. They comprise 15 [[extant taxon|extant]] [[species]] in seven [[genus|genera]] (another species became extinct in the 1950s) and are commonly known either as [[sea lion]]s or [[fur seal]]s, distinct from [[true seals]] (phocids) and the [[walrus]] ([[Odobenidae|odobenids]]). Otariids are adapted to a semiaquatic lifestyle, feeding and migrating in the water, but breeding and resting on land or ice. They reside in subpolar, temperate, and equatorial waters throughout the [[Pacific]] and [[Southern Oceans]], the southern [[Indian Ocean|Indian]], and [[Atlantic]] Oceans. They are conspicuously absent in the north Atlantic.

The words "otariid" and "otary" come from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''{{Transliteration|grc|otarion}}'' meaning "little ear",<ref>"Otary, n., etymology of" The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. http://dictionary.oed.com/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625103623/http://dictionary.oed.com/ |date=2006-06-25 }} Accessed November 2007</ref> referring to the small but visible external ear flaps ([[Pinna (anatomy)|pinnae]]), which distinguishes them from the [[Phocidae|phocids]].
[[File:Otaria fg02.jpg|thumb|right|Ear flaps of a [[South American sea lion]] (''Otaria flavescens'')]]