Caribbean monk seal
| Caribbean monk seal | |
|---|---|
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| Specimen in the New York Aquarium, ca. 1910 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Pinnipedia |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Tribe: | Monachini |
| Genus: | Neomonachus |
| Species: | † N. tropicalis |
| Binomial name | |
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Neomonachus tropicalis (Gray, 1850) |
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| Synonyms | |
|
Monachus tropicalis (Gray, 1850) |
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Monachus tropicalis (Gray, 1850)
Phoca tropicalis Gray, 1850
The Caribbean monk seal, West Indian seal or sea wolf (as early explorers referred to it), Neomonachus tropicalis (formerly Monachus tropicalis), was a species of seal native to the Caribbean and is now believed to be extinct. The Caribbean monk seals' main predators were sharks and humans. Overhunting of the seals for oil, and overfishing of their food sources, are the established reasons for the seals' extinction. The last confirmed sighting of the Caribbean Monk Seal was in 1952 at Serranilla Bank, between Jamaica and Nicaragua. In 2008 the species was officially declared extinct in the United States of America after an exhaustive search for the seals which lasted for about five years. This analysis was conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Caribbean Monk Seals were closely related to the Hawaiian monk seals, which live around the Hawaiian Islands and are now endangered, and Mediterranean monk seals, another endangered species. An estimated 600 Mediterranean monk seals and 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals are alive in the wild.
Caribbean monk seals had a relatively large, long, robust body, could grow to nearly 2.4 metres (8 ft) in length and weighed 170 to 270 kilograms (375 to 600 lb). Males were probably slightly larger than females, which is similar to Mediterranean monk seals. Like other monk seals this species had a distinctive head and face. The head was rounded with an extended broad muzzle. The face had relatively large wide-spaced eyes, upward opening nostrils, and fairly big whisker pads with long light-colored and smooth whiskers. When compared to the body, the animal's foreflippers were relatively short with little claws and the hindflippers were slender. Their coloration was brownish and/or grayish, with the underside lighter than the dorsal area. Adults were darker than the more paler and yellowish younger seals. Caribbean monk seals were also known to have algae growing on their pelage, giving them a slightly greenish appearance, which is similar to Hawaiian monk seals.
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