Irina A. Koretsky
Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, USA
Abstract - Review of appropriate fossil and modern material indicates that the fossil remains of seals from Southern Hungary (Sarmatian Age) belong to the previously described genus Praepusa, but to a new species. The diagnosis of the genus Praepusa is emended to include postcranial characters. Praepusa magyaricus, n. sp., based on a humerus, differs from other seals in the sharp shape of its deltoid crest, the position of the lesser tubercle compared to the head, and other characters. New material allows comparison between the genus Praepusa and other genera of the subfamily Phocinae, and helps determine the phylogenetic relations among the several species of the subfamily Phocinae.