Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 2, 2026

Piscophoca

Piscophoca is an extinct genus of pinniped. The genus was named after the fossiliferous Pisco Formation in Peru, where the holotype was found. Other fossils of the genus were found in the Bahía Inglesa Formation of the Caldera Basin in Chile.

Last revised
Aug 2, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
134 w
Citations
1
Source
Piscophoca
Temporal range: Late Miocene
~
Piscophoca pacifica skull cast of a specimen from Peru. At the AMNH.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Caniformia
Parvorder: Pinnipedia
Family: Phocidae
Subfamily: Monachinae
Genus: Piscophoca
Muizon, 1981
Species:
P. pacifica
Binomial name
Piscophoca pacifica
Muizon, 1981

Piscophoca is an extinct genus of pinniped. The genus was named after the fossiliferous Pisco Formation in Peru, where the holotype was found. Other fossils of the genus were found in the Bahía Inglesa Formation of the Caldera Basin in Chile.1

Piscophoca sp. skull source ↗
References

References

  1. Valenzuela-Toro, A. M.; Gutstein, C. S.; Varas-Malca, R. M.; Suarez, M. E.; Pyenson, N. D. (2013). "Pinniped turnover in the South Pacific Ocean: New evidence from the Plio-Pleistocene of the Atacama Desert, Chile". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33: 216. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.710282.