MikeLigalig.com

Everybody mentions “dogs and cats” in the same breath, and in many ways consider them somewhat similarâ€"but it doesn’t often occur to us to say “dogs and seals.” Cats and dogs may share our homes, but the genuine similarities end there; they’re about as far apart as camels and horses.

The dog’s true cousin is not the cat, but its counterpart in the ocean: the pinniped. Seals (and bears, interestingly enough) are members of the suborder caniformia, which is comprised of dog-like carnivores, including dogs themselves. Cats fall into an entirely different suborder. Some researchers have even suggested that sea lions are to dogs what mermaids would be to humans, if they did in fact exist… -- http://listverse.com/