NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Brown Fur Seal
Arctocephalus pusillus (Schreber, 1775)
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
Arctocephalus pusillus, commonly known as the Afro-Australian fur seal, or brown fur seal is a species of fur seal. The species is often referred to as the Cape fur seal, although this name is also used specifically for the nominate subspecies, A. p. pusillus, of southern Africa. The other subspecies, A. p. doriferus, is found in Australia and is known as the Australian fur seal.
Wikipedia contributors, Arctocephalus pusillus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:05:11.744991+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Arctocephalus pusillus (Schreber, 1775)
- Name authority
- (Schreber, 1775)
- Common name
- Brown 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 pusillus (Schreber, 1775)
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 |
| Antarctic Fur SealArctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875) | OtariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Amsterdam fur sealArctocephalus tropicalis (J. E. Gray, 1872) | OtariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Phoca pusilla Schreber, 1775 Schreber, 1775 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Indo-West Pacific
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=180629 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:67RQR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.