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as to whether all three lineages are monophyletic, i.e. descended from a single ancestor, or diphyletic, recent genetic evidence suggests all three descended from a caniform ancestor most closely related to modern bears. Recent multigene analysis indicates the odobenids and otariids diverged from the phocids about 20-26 million years ago, while the odobenids and the otariids separated 15-20 million years ago. Odobenidae was once a highly

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