NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Antarctic Fur Seal
Arctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) is one of eight seals in the genus Arctocephalus, and one of nine fur seals in the subfamily Arctocephalinae. Despite what its name suggests, the Antarctic fur seal is mostly distributed in Subantarctic islands and its scientific name is thought to have come from the German vessel SMS Gazelle, which was the first to collect specimens of this species from the Kerguelen Islands.
Wikipedia contributors, Antarctic fur seal; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:11:41.000322+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Arctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875)
- Name authority
- (Peters, 1875)
- Common name
- Antarctic Fur Seal
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Otariidae
- Genus
- Arctocephalus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderCarnivora Bowdich, 1821
- suborderCaniformia Kretzoi, 1938
- familyOtariidae Gray, 1825
- genusArctocephalus É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire & F. Cuvier, 1826
- speciesArctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Arctocephalus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Galapagos Fur SealArctocephalus galapagoensis Heller, 1904 | OtariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Juan Fernández Fur SealArctocephalus philippii (Peters, 1866) | OtariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Antipodean fur sealArctocephalus forsteri (Lesson, 1828) | OtariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| South American Fur SealArctocephalus australis (Zimmermann, 1783) | OtariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brown Fur SealArctocephalus pusillus (Schreber, 1775) | OtariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Amsterdam fur sealArctocephalus tropicalis (J. E. Gray, 1872) | OtariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=180630 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5W3QR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.