| Southern seals | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leopard seal,Hydrurga leptonyx | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Subfamily: | Monachinae E. L. Trouessart, 1897 |
| Tribes | |
| |
Monachinae (known colloquially as "Southern seals") is a subfamily ofPhocidae whose distribution is found in thetropical,temperate andpolar regions of theSouthern Hemisphere, though in the distant past fossil representatives have been found on both sides of theNorth Atlantic Ocean.[1][2] The difference between members of this group and members ofPhocinae is in monachines the hindclaws are greatly reduced in size.[3] Furthermore, all species have 34chromosomes.[3] There are three tribes recognized here:Monachini (monk seals),Miroungini (elephant seals), andLobodontini (Antarctic seals and a handful of Afroamerican fossil genera).[4][5] While today represented by eight extant andone recently extinct species, Monachinae had an incredibly enriched fossil diversity that went into decline soon to be replaced by southern species ofsea lions andfur seals.[6][5]
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