Puijila

Puijila darwini is a species of basal pinniped which lived during the Miocene epoch about 21 to 24 million years ago. Approximately a metre (three feet) in length, the animal possessed only minimal physical adaptations for swimming. Unlike modern pinnipeds, it did not have flippers and its overall form was otter-like, albeit more specialized; its skull and teeth are the features that most clearly indicate that it is a seal.[1]

It is considered to be the most primitive pinniped yet found. The genus name is an Inuktitut word for a young seal; the species name honours the English naturalist Charles Darwin.[2] The holotype and only known specimen is a nearly complete fossilised skeleton. It is being housed at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario.