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Mirounga (elephant seal)
Taxonomy
Mirounga was named by Gray (1827). It is extant.
It was synonymized subjectively with Macrorhinus by Gill (1866), Trouessart (1898), Trouessart (1904); it was misspelled as Morunga by Gray (1866), Gray (1871), Palmer (1904), Scheffer and Rice (1963), Burns and Fay (1970), Kurten and Anderson (1980), Muizon (1981), Muizon (1982), Riedman (1990), Vidal (1991), McKenna and Bell (1997), Rice (1998), Koretsky (2001), Berta (2002), Koretsky and Holec (2002), Deméré et al. (2003), Davis et al. (2004), Berta (2009), Fulton and Strobeck (2010), Berta and Churchill (2012), Koretsky and Rahmat (2013), Amson and Muizon (2013), Valenzuela-Toro et al. (2015), Berta (2018), Berta et al. (2018), Kienle and Berta (2019), Dewaele and de Muizon (2025).
It was assigned to Cystophorina by Gray (1866), Gray (1871); to Monachina by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Cystophorinae by Scheffer and Rice (1963), Burns and Fay (1970), Koretsky (2001), Koretsky and Holec (2002), Koretsky and Rahmat (2013); to Phocidae by Gray (1850), Palmer (1904), Vidal (1991), Valenzuela-Toro et al. (2015); to Monachinae by Kurten and Anderson (1980), Riedman (1990), Rice (1998), Berta (2002), Deméré et al. (2003), Berta (2009), Berta and Churchill (2012), Berta (2018), Kienle and Berta (2019); and to Miroungini by Muizon (1981), Muizon (1982), Davis et al. (2004), Fulton and Strobeck (2010), Amson and Muizon (2013), Berta et al. (2018), Dewaele and de Muizon (2025).
It was synonymized subjectively with Macrorhinus by Gill (1866), Trouessart (1898), Trouessart (1904); it was misspelled as Morunga by Gray (1866), Gray (1871), Palmer (1904), Scheffer and Rice (1963), Burns and Fay (1970), Kurten and Anderson (1980), Muizon (1981), Muizon (1982), Riedman (1990), Vidal (1991), McKenna and Bell (1997), Rice (1998), Koretsky (2001), Berta (2002), Koretsky and Holec (2002), Deméré et al. (2003), Davis et al. (2004), Berta (2009), Fulton and Strobeck (2010), Berta and Churchill (2012), Koretsky and Rahmat (2013), Amson and Muizon (2013), Valenzuela-Toro et al. (2015), Berta (2018), Berta et al. (2018), Kienle and Berta (2019), Dewaele and de Muizon (2025).
It was assigned to Cystophorina by Gray (1866), Gray (1871); to Monachina by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Cystophorinae by Scheffer and Rice (1963), Burns and Fay (1970), Koretsky (2001), Koretsky and Holec (2002), Koretsky and Rahmat (2013); to Phocidae by Gray (1850), Palmer (1904), Vidal (1991), Valenzuela-Toro et al. (2015); to Monachinae by Kurten and Anderson (1980), Riedman (1990), Rice (1998), Berta (2002), Deméré et al. (2003), Berta (2009), Berta and Churchill (2012), Berta (2018), Kienle and Berta (2019); and to Miroungini by Muizon (1981), Muizon (1982), Davis et al. (2004), Fulton and Strobeck (2010), Amson and Muizon (2013), Berta et al. (2018), Dewaele and de Muizon (2025).
Entered
by M. Uhen on 2003-03-06; modified by M. Uhen on 2014-01-03
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1824 | Macrorhinus Cuvier |
| 1827 | Macrorhyna Gray |
| 1827 | Mirounga Gray p. 179 |
| 1830 | Rhinophoca Wagler p. 27 |
| 1841 | Physorhinus Gloger p. 163 |
| 1850 | Morunga Gray p. 33 |
| 1866 | Macrorhinus Gill p. 6 |
| 1866 | Morunga Gray p. 39 |
| 1871 | Morunga Gray p. 4 |
| 1873 | Macrorhinus Scott p. 27 |
| 1880 | Macrorhinus Allen p. 742 |
| 1898 | Macrorhinus Trouessart p. 377 |
| 1904 | Mirounga Palmer p. 427 |
| 1904 | Physorhinus Palmer p. 537 |
| 1904 | Macrorhinus Trouessart p. 282 |
| 1912 | Macrorhinus Turner p. 194 |
| 1947 | Macrorhinus Friant p. 5 |
| 1963 | Mirounga Scheffer and Rice p. 4 |
| 1970 | Mirounga Burns and Fay p. 380 |
| 1980 | Mirounga Kurten and Anderson p. 207 |
| 1981 | Mirounga Muizon p. 135 |
| 1982 | Mirounga Muizon p. 205 figs. Table 1 |
| 1990 | Mirounga Riedman p. 57 figs. Table 2 |
| 1991 | Mirounga Vidal p. 6 |
| 1997 | Mirounga McKenna and Bell p. 259 |
| 1998 | Mirounga Rice |
| 2001 | Mirounga Koretsky p. 87 |
| 2002 | Mirounga Berta p. 923 |
| 2002 | Mirounga Koretsky and Holec p. 175 |
| 2003 | Mirounga Deméré et al. p. 49 figs. Fig. 3.3 |
| 2004 | Mirounga Davis et al. p. 365 |
| 2009 | Mirounga Berta p. 863 |
| 2010 | Mirounga Fulton and Strobeck p. 817 figs. Figure 1 |
| 2012 | Morunga Berta and Churchill p. 219 |
| 2013 | Mirounga Amson and Muizon |
| 2013 | Mirounga Koretsky and Rahmat p. 330 |
| 2015 | Mirounga Valenzuela-Toro et al. |
| 2018 | Mirounga Berta p. 715 figs. Fig. 3C |
| 2018 | Mirounga Berta et al. p. 210 figs. Fig. 2 |
| 2019 | Mirounga Kienle and Berta |
| 2025 | Mirounga Dewaele and de Muizon p. 491 figs. Figure 12 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
G. Mirounga Gray 1827 [elephant seal]
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Mirounga angustirostris Gill 1866 [northern elephant seal]
Mirounga leonina Linnaeus 1758 [southern elephant seal]
Invalid names: Macrorhinus Cuvier 1824 [synonym], Macrorhyna Gray 1827 [synonym], Physorhinus Gloger 1841 [synonym], Rhinophoca Wagler 1830 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
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| Source: f = family, c = class, uc = unranked clade | |||||
| References: Carreño and Cronin 1993, Hendy et al. 2009, Nowak 1991, Gingerich 2003 | |||||
Age range
Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Burdigalian to the top of the Holocene or 20.45000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 15.98 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 15.98 Ma
Collections (50 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burdigalian | South Africa (Namaqualand) | Mirounga sp. (51190) | |
| Pleistocene | Chile (Antofagasta) | Mirounga sp. (162503) | |
| Pleistocene | South Africa | Mirounga leonina (21695 21916 115205) | |
| Pleistocene - Holocene | South Africa | Mirounga leonina (21952) | |
| Rancholabrean | USA (California) | Mirounga angustirostris (84894) | |
| Rancholabrean (glacial) | USA (California) | Mirounga angustirostris (20624) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene | USA (California) | Mirounga angustirostris (73753) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial) | USA (California) | Mirounga sp. (20625) | |
| Holocene | Canada (British Columbia) | Mirounga angustirostris (162167 162168 162169) | |
| Holocene | New Zealand | Mirounga leonina (168615) | |
| Holocene | South Africa | Mirounga leonina (21919 96973) | |
| Holocene | Antarctica | Mirounga leonina (168613 177180 215322) Mirounga sp. (177151) | |
| Holocene | USA (Oregon) | Mirounga angustirostris (162159) | |
| Holocene | Argentina | Mirounga leonina (168614) | |
| Holocene | USA (Alaska) | Mirounga angustirostris (168616) | |
| Holocene | USA (Indiana) | Mirounga leonina (219792) | |
| Holocene | Chile | Mirounga leonina (168612) | |
| Holocene | Mexico (Baja California) | Mirounga angustirostris (162139) | |
| Holocene | Namibia | Mirounga leonina (168611) | |
| Holocene | USA (California) | Mirounga angustirostris (162140 162142 162143 162144 162146 162147 162149 162150 162151 162152 162153 162155 162156 162157 162158 168878) | |
| Holocene | USA (Washington) | Mirounga angustirostris (162160 162161 162162 162163 162164 162165 162166) |