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Bearded seal
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== Evolutionary history == Bearded seal fossils have been found to be as old as the early to mid [[Pleistocene]]. These early fossils were found in northern regions like England, Alaska, and Sweden, as well as the [[North Sea]] and the [[Champlain Sea]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Harington|first=C. R.|date=March 2008|title=The Evolution of Arctic Marine Mammals|journal=Ecological Applications|language=en|volume=18|issue=sp2|pages=S23βS40|doi=10.1890/06-0624.1|issn=1051-0761|pmid=18494361|doi-access=free|bibcode=2008EcoAp..18S..23H }}</ref> Bearded seals, like all true seals, belong to the family Phocidae which is one of the three families in the clade Pinnipedia, along with [[Otariidae]] and [[Odobenidae]]. Pinnipeds are thought to have originated 27 to 25 million years ago during the late [[Oligocene]] period. One hypothesis for the evolution of pinnipeds is that pinnipeds are a diphyletic group and otariids and odobenids are more closely related to bears, and phocids are more closely related to mustelids like weasels. Another hypothesis suggests that pinnipeds are a monophyletic group that descended from a single ancestor. This has been more supported by phylogenetic analysis than the diphylectic hypothesis. One such study suggests that phocids are [[sister group|sister taxa]] to the common ancestor to both otariids and odobenids.<ref name=":3" /> Bearded seals belong to the subfamily [[Phocinae]] (Northern Hemisphere seals). Phocinae can be further divided into three clades: Erignathini (bearded seals), Cystophorini (hooded seals), and Phocini (all remaining genera). Bearded seals are the sister taxa to the common ancestor of Cystophorini and Phocini.<ref name="Berta Churchill Boessenecker 2018">{{cite journal | last1=Berta | first1=Annalisa | last2=Churchill | first2=Morgan | last3=Boessenecker | first3=Robert W. | title=The Origin and Evolutionary Biology of Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses | journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=46 | issue=1 | date=2018-05-30 | issn=0084-6597 | doi=10.1146/annurev-earth-082517-010009 | pages=203β228| bibcode=2018AREPS..46..203B | s2cid=135439365 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
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