How can external ears help identify eared seals?

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A crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus) lies on snow-covered ice with its mouth open, surrounded by broken sea ice in East Antarctica. — seal Crabeater seal (*Lobodon carcinophagus*).

You can identify eared seals (family Otariidae) by the presence of small, well-developed external ear flaps that protrude from their heads.123

This feature serves as a primary anatomical distinction between eared seals—which include sea lions and fur seals—and "true" or "earless" seals (family Phocidae). While true seals lack these external flaps and possess only small ear holes, the presence of visible ear flaps in eared seals is a key diagnostic trait used to differentiate the two families.23