Mediterranean Monk Seal
Conservation status
Critically endangered (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Suborder: Pinnipedia Family: Phocidae Genus: Monachus Species: M. monachus
Binomial name
Monachus monachus (Hermann, 1779)
Mediterranean Monk Seal range

The Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) is believed to be the world's rarest pinniped and one of the most endangered mammals of the world. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn2. ... Organisms that have a conservation status of critically endangered have an extremely high risk of becoming extinct. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses Allotheria* Order Multituberculata (extinct) Order Volaticotheria (extinct) Order Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Order Triconodonta (extinct) Prototheria Order Monotremata Theria Infraclass Marsupialia Infraclass Eutheria The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in females for the nourishment of young, from mammary glands present on most species... Families 17, See classification The diverse order Carnivora IPA: (from Latin carō (stem carn-) flesh, + vorāre to devour) includes over 260 placental mammals. ... subfamilies Otariidae Phocidae Odobenidae Pinnipeds are large marine mammals belonging to the Pinnipedia, a family (sometimes a suborder or superfamily, depending on the classification scheme) of the order Carnivora. ... Genera Monachus (Monk Seals) Mirounga (Elephant Seal) Lobodon (Crabeater Seals) Leptonychotes Hydrurga (Leopard Seals) Ommatophoca Erignathus (Bearded Seals) Phoca Halichoerus (Gray Seals) Cystophora (Hooded Seals) The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal suborder, Pinnipedia. ... Monk seals Categories: Animal stubs ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Johann Hermann (1738 - 1800) was a German physician and naturalist. ... Image File history File links Monachus_monachus_distribution. ... Families Odobenidae Otariidae Phocidae Pinnipeds (fin-feet, lit. ... Orders Subclass Monotremata Monotremata Subclass Marsupialia Didelphimorphia Paucituberculata Microbiotheria Dasyuromorphia Peramelemorphia Notoryctemorphia Diprotodontia Subclass Placentalia Xenarthra Dermoptera Desmostylia Scandentia Primates Rodentia Lagomorpha Insectivora Chiroptera Pholidota Carnivora Perissodactyla Artiodactyla Cetacea Afrosoricida Macroscelidea Tubulidentata Hyracoidea Proboscidea Sirenia The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals primarily characterized by the presence of mammary...

Description

This species of monk seal grows from the approximate 80 cm of newborns to an average 2.40 m length of adults. The latter weigh up to 320 kg, the females being slightly smaller than the males. Their fur is black (males) or brown to dark grey (females) with a paler belly which is close to white in males. Pups are mostly born in autumn, entering the water two weeks afterwards, and are ablactated at around 18 weeks of age. They are born in a black natal fur, often with a white patch beneath. The shape of these patches can be used to identify individuals. The reproductive maturity is reached at around the age of four, and total age is over twenty years. Pregnant Mediterranean Monk Seals typically use inaccessible undersea caves while giving birth, though historical descriptions show that they used open beaches until the eighteenth century. Species Monachus schauinslandi Monachus monachus Monachus tropicalis Monachus is a genus (and a subgenus of the same name) of the Family Phocidae and the Order Pinnipedia and refers to the various monk seal species throughout the world. ...

The Mediterranean Monk Seals are diurnal and feed on fish and mollusks, primarily octopus, up to 3 kg per day. A diurnal animal (dī-ŭrnəl) is an animal that is active during the daytime and sleeps during the night. ... A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are typically cold-blooded; covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. ... Classes Caudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora Monoplacophora Bivalvia Scaphopoda Gastropoda Cephalopoda † Rostroconchia The mollusks or molluscs are the large and diverse phylum Mollusca, which includes a variety of familiar creatures well-known for their decorative shells or as seafood. ... Families 11 in two suborders, see text. ...

Status

This earless seal's former range extended throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea coasts line and into the Atlantic, as far South as Cape Verde (where it is now extinct) and as far West as the Azores (where it is also extinct as a breeder but there are occasional sightings of mavericks coming from the Desertas population). Genera Monachus (Monk Seals) Mirounga (Elephant Seal) Lobodon (Crabeater Seals) Leptonychotes Hydrurga (Leopard Seals) Ommatophoca Erignathus (Bearded Seals) Phoca Halichoerus (Grey Seals) Cystophora (Hooded Seals) The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal suborder, Pinnipedia. ... Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea. ... NASA satelite image of the Black Sea Map of the Black Sea The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Anatolia that is actually a distant arm of the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ... Motto: Antes morrer livres que em paz sujeitos (Rather die free than in peace subjugated) Anthem: A Portuguesa (national) Hino dos Açores (local) Capital Ponta Delgada (Presidency of the Regional Government) Angra do Heroísmo (Supreme Court)1 Horta (Legislative Assembly)2 Largest city Ponta Delgada Official languages Portuguese...

Several causes have provoked a dramatic population decrease over the time, mostly commercial hunting (especially during the Roman Empire and Middle Age) and, during the 20th century, eradication by fishermen – who used to consider it a pest due to the damages the seal causes to fishing nets when it preys on fishes caught in those – and coastal urbanisation.

As a result of this its entire population is estimated to be nowadays less than 600 individuals scattered thoughout a wide distribution range, which qualifies this species as Critically Endangered. Its current very sparse population is one more serious threat to the species, as it only has two key sites which can be deemed viable: the Aegean Sea (Greece-Turkey) and, specially, the one in the Western Sahara portion of Cabo Blanco (which may support the small but growing nucleus in the Desertas Islands). These two key sites for the species are virtually in the extreme opposites of its distribution range, which makes natural population interchange impossible. Look up Aegean Sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Ras Nouadhibou is a 40-mile peninsula or headland called also known as Cap Blanc (French), or Cabo Blanco (Spanish). ... Image:3524-lg. ...

In the summer of 1997, two thirds of the largest surviving single population of Mediterranean monk seals (the one in Cabo Blanco) was wiped out within the space of two months, extremely compromising the species' viable population. While opinions on the precise causes of this epidemic remain sharply divided (the most likely cause being either a morbilivirus or a toxic algae bloom) the mass die-off emphasised the precarious status of a species already regarded as critically endangered throughout its range. While still far below the beginning of 1997, numbers in this all important location have started a slow paced recovery ever since. Currently the population in this location is estimated at 150 individuals, down from approximately 300 in 1997 but still the largest colony by far. The threat of a similar incident that could wipe it out this entire population remains.^[1]jtdjktydkdtkykgh Species with a small population size are subject to a higher chance of extinction because their small population size makes them more vulnerable to genetic drift, resulting in stochastic variation in their gene pool, their demography and their environment. ... Phocine distemper virus (PDV) is a paramyxovirus of the genus morbillivirus that is pathogenic for pinniped species, particularly seals. ... A red tide off the coast of La Jolla, California. ...

See also

• Hawaiian Monk Seal
• Caribbean Monk Seal

Binomial name Monachus schauinslandi Matschie, 1905 The Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi) in the Family Phocidae, is an endangered marine mammal that is endemic to the warm, clear waters of the Hawaiian Islands. ... Binomial name Monachus tropicalis (Gray, 1850) The Caribbean Monk Seal or West Indian Monk Seal (Monachus tropicalis), the only seal ever known to be native to the Caribbean sea and the Gulf of Mexico, is now considered extinct. ...

References and notes

1. ^ The Monachus Guardian Mediterranean Monk Seal Fact Sheet

• Seal Specialist Group (1996). Monachus monachus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Critically Endangered (CR C2a v2.3)
• Randall R. Reeves, Brent S. Stewart, Phillip J. Clapham and James A. Powell (2002). National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 0375411410. 

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

External links

• ARKive - images and movies of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus)
• The Monachus Guardian
• Hellenic Society for the study and protection of the monk seal
• Madeira Monk Seal Colony