Pinnipedimorpha is a clade of arctoidcarnivorans that is defined to include the last common ancestor of Phoca and Enaliarctos, and all descendants of that ancestor. Scientists still debate on which lineage of arctoid carnivorans are the closest relatives to the pinnipedimorphs, being more closely related to musteloids.
Below is an overall phylogeny of the taxa covered in the article followed after a composite tree in Berta et al. (2018) and a total-evidence (combined molecular-morphological) dataset in Paterson et al. (2020):
↑Sato, J. J.; Wolsan, M.; Suzuki, H.; Hosoda, T.; Yamaguchi, Y.; Hiyama, K.; Kobayashi, M.; Minami, S. (2006). "Evidence from nuclear DNA sequences sheds light on the phylogenetic relationships of Pinnipedia: Single origin with affinity to Musteloidea". Zoological Science. 23 (2): 125–46. doi:10.2108/zsj.23.125. hdl:2115/13508. PMID16603806. S2CID25795496.