Diversity of late Neogene Monachinae (Carnivora, Phocidae) from the North Atlantic, with the description of two new species [PDF]
Royal Society Open Science, 2018 While the diversity of ‘southern seals’, or Monachinae, in the North Atlantic realm is currently limited to the Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus, their diversity was much higher during the late Miocene and Pliocene.
Leonard Dewaele +2 more
exaly +13 more sources
In-air hearing in Hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of Monachinae seals [PDF]
Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 2021 AbstractThe auditory biology of Monachinae seals is poorly understood. Limited audiometric data and certain anatomical features suggest that these seals may have reduced sensitivity to airborne sounds compared to related species. Here, we describe the in-air hearing abilities of a Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) trained to participate in
Brandi Ruscher +2 more
exaly +8 more sources
A new large-bodied Pliocene seal with unusual cutting teeth [PDF]
Royal Society Open Science, 2020 Today, monachine seals display the largest body sizes in pinnipeds. However, the evolution of larger body sizes has been difficult to assess due to the murky taxonomic status of fossil seals, including fossils referred to Callophoca obscura, a species ...
James P Rule +2 more
exaly +3 more sources
Early monk seals (Monachinae: Monachini) from the late Miocene–early Pliocene of Australia
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 2021 Despite decades of research, the systematics of extinct true seals (Phocidae) is still overly reliant on morphological data from extant taxa. As a result, monk seals (Monachini) have been interpreted as ‘archaic’ despite an absence of fossil data to support this hypothesis.
James P Rule, Justin W Adams
exaly +3 more sources
True seals achieved global distribution by breaking Bergmann's rule. [PDF]
Evolution, 2022 Abstract True seals (phocids) have achieved a global distribution by crossing the equator multiple times in their evolutionary history. This is remarkable, as warm tropical waters are regarded as a barrier to marine mammal dispersal and—following Bergmann's rule—may have limited crossings to small‐bodied species only.
Rule JP +4 more
europepmc +2 more sources
New Miocene Monachinae from the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay (Maryland, USA) [PDF]
Vestnik Zoologii, 2017 AbstractThe Family Phocidae includes four subfamilies (Phocinae, Monachinae, Cystophorinae, and Devinophocinae) consisting of mediumto large-sized mammals that possess distinctive adaptations to semi-aquatic life. In the Miocene of the Chesapeake Group, only two subfamilies of the Family Phocidae were identified: Phocinae and Monachinae.
Sulman Rahmat +3 more
openalex +2 more sources
A critical revision of the fossil record, stratigraphy and diversity of the Neogene seal genus Monotherium (Carnivora, Phocidae). [PDF]
R Soc Open Sci, 2018 Historically, Monotherium had been one of the few genera of extinct Phocidae (true seals) that served as a wastebin taxon. Consequently, it did neither aid in understanding phylogenetic relationships of extinct Phocidae, nor in understanding seal ...
Dewaele L, Lambert O, Louwye S.
europepmc +6 more sources
A late surviving Pliocene seal from high latitudes of the North Atlantic realm: the latest monachine seal on the southern margin of the North Sea [PDF]
PeerJ, 2018 Background The family of true seals, the Phocidae, is subdivided into two subfamilies: the southern Monachinae, and the northern Phocinae, following the subfamilies’ current distribution: extant Monachinae are largely restricted to the (sub-)Antarctic ...
Leonard Dewaele +2 more
doaj +3 more sources
On Prophoca and Leptophoca (Pinnipedia, Phocidae) from the Miocene of the North Atlantic realm: redescription, phylogenetic affinities and paleobiogeographic implications. [PDF]
PeerJ, 2017 Background: Prophoca and Leptophoca represent the oldest known genera of phocine seals, dating from the latest early to middle Miocene. Originally, Prophoca rousseaui and Prophoca proxima were described based on fragmentary remains from the Miocene of ...
Dewaele L, Lambert O, Louwye S.
europepmc +8 more sources
GeodiversitasIn the present study, we present a new monachine phocid, Magophoca brevirostris n. gen., n. sp., the fifth monachine described from the Pisco Formation (Peru). Coming from the Cerro la Bruja level at the locality of the same name, Magophoca n. gen. is the geologically oldest known seal from the Neogene of the southeast Pacific, dated at least to the ...
Leonard Dewaele, Christian de Muizon
+7 more sources