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Monachopsis pontica

Mammalia - Carnivora - Phocidae

Taxonomy
Phoca pontica was named by Eichwald (1850) [MPGI, Paleontological Museum of the Mining Institute, Saint-Petersburg, Russia:this is a neotype designated by Koretsky (2001).]. Its type specimen is MPGI 17-113, a limb element (left humerus), and it is a 3D body fossil. It is the type species of Monachopsis.

It was recombined as Phoca (Phoca) pontica by Trouessart (1898); it was recombined as Monachus (Monachus) ponticus by Friant (1947); it was recombined as Phoca (Pusa) pontica by McLaren (1960); it was recombined as Pusa pontica by Scheffer (1967); it was considered a nomen dubium by Rule and Park (2024); it was recombined as Monachopsis pontica by Kretzoi (1941), Koretsky (1991), Koretsky (2001), Koretsky and Barnes (2006), Berta et al. (2022), Otriazhyi et al. (2025).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1850Phoca pontica Eichwald p. 210 figs. Plate 13
1860Phoca pontica Nordmann p. 321
1898Phoca (Phoca) pontica Trouessart p. 385
1904Phoca pontica Trouessart p. 286
1922Phoca pontica Kellogg p. 120
1924Phoca pontica Alekseev p. 27
1925Phoca pontica Alekseev p. 138
1925Phoca pontica Zittel p. 78
1927Phoca pontica Bogachev p. 140
1931Phoca pontica Simionescu p. 186
1941Monachopsis pontica Kretzoi p. 277
1944Phoca pontica Macarovici p. 136
1947Monachus (Monachus) ponticus Friant p. 6
1960Phoca (Pusa) pontica McLaren p. 57
1967Pusa pontica Scheffer p. 355
1991Monachopsis pontica Koretsky p. 41A
2001Monachopsis pontica Koretsky p. 39
2006Monachopsis pontica Koretsky and Barnes p. 148
2022Monachopsis pontica Berta et al. p. 7 figs. Table 1.1
2025Monachopsis pontica Otriazhyi et al. p. 8

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
—Cladotheria
RankNameAuthor
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Ferae()
—Pancarnivora
—CarnivoramorphaWyss and Flynn 1993
—CarnivoraformesFlynn et al.
orderCarnivora
suborderCaniformiaKretzoi 1943
infraorderCanoidea(Simpson 1931)
superfamilyArctoideaFlower 1869
—PanpinnipediaWolsan et al. 2020
—Pinnipedimorpha
—Pinnipedia()
familyPhocidae()
subfamilyPhocinae
genusMonachopsis
speciespontica()

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.

†Monachopsis pontica Eichwald 1850
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
P. Otriazhyi et al. 2025Monachopsis pontica differs from all known phocine seals by having a thin posterior part of the nasal (as wide as 7.5% of the rostral width); an elongated maxillary part of the rostrum with a DNFO/RH ratio
of about 195% (distance from nasal foramen to orbit/height of the rostrum at the rostral edge of the nasal; see figure 1); and a ventral edge of the zygomatic arch in anterior view situated higher than the alveolar plane (rather than a level with that plane). Also, it is distinct in a very long deltoid crest of the humerus reaching the coronoid fossa [11]. The long deltoid crest is shared only by several Monachinae seals such as ‘Virginiaphoca magurai’ (holotype humerus USNM 639750), ‘Auroraphoca atlantica’ (holotype humerus USNM 181419), and Homiphoca, and a phocine seal Cryptophoca maeotica (humerus
NMNHU-P 64-530), from the Paratethys as well. M. pontica has a distally (rather than proximally) situated pronator teres process of the radius.
Also, Monachopsis pontica differs from all known phocine seals except H. fasciata in pm4 size, which is about equal to m1. Further, it differs from all known phocine seals except H. fasciata and Pusa sibirica by having a swollen palatal process of the maxilla [11]. It differs from all phocine seals except H. fasciata, Pagophilus groenlandicus, and Erignathus barbatus in a greater tubercle of the humerus higher than a head (see also [11]). Meanwhile, M. pontica shares the following synapomorphies with crown phocine seals, differing herewith from all the known Neogene phocines: strong inflation of a tympanic bulla; a lesser tubercle of the humerus higher than a head (see also [11]); a strongly twisted wing of the ilium (not shared by Cystophora cristata and E. barbatus); and a strongly reduced intertrochanteric crest of the femur (not shared by E. barbatus).
New findings show that the PM4 and M1 are double-rooted, and the diastema between them is present (the observation differs from diagnoses made by [11]).
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatiteuc
Ontogeny: modification of partsuc
Environment: marineuc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: amphibiousuc
Diet: piscivoref
Diet 2: carnivoref
Reproduction: viviparousuc
Created: 2005-06-08 10:11:09
Modified: 2005-06-08 12:11:09
Source: f = family, c = class, uc = unranked clade
References: Nowak 1991, Hendy et al. 2009, Carreño and Cronin 1993, Gingerich 2003

Age range: base of the Sarmatian to the top of the Calabrian or 12.80000 to 0.77400 Ma

Collections (21 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Serravallian13.82 - 11.63Moldova (Strashensky) Monachopsis pontica (60266)
Serravallian13.82 - 11.63Romania Monachopsis pontica (60280)
Serravallian13.82 - 11.63Ukraine (Cherson) Monachopsis pontica (60258) Phoca sp. (60249)
Serravallian13.82 - 11.63Ukraine (Crimea) Monachopsis pontica (60244 240030)
Serravallian13.82 - 11.63Ukraine (Zaporozhye) Monachopsis pontica (60240)
Serravallian13.82 - 11.63Ukraine (Donetsk) Phoca sp. (60238)
Serravallian13.82 - 11.63Moldova (Chișinău) Phoca pontica (210590)
Sarmatian12.8 - 11.63Russian Federation Phoca pontica (73903)
Sarmatian12.8 - 11.63Ukraine (Crimea) Monachopsis pontica (60248 239966 240018 240019)
Sarmatian12.8 - 11.63Moldova Monachopsis pontica (57734)
Sarmatian12.8 - 11.63Türkiye Phoca pontica (56563)
Sarmatian12.8 - 11.63Russian Federation (Adygea) Monachopsis pontica (207770)
Tortonian11.63 - 7.246Ukraine Monachopsis pontica (239965) Phoca pontica (88545)
Tortonian11.63 - 7.246Ukraine (Crimea) Phoca pontica (85514)
Calabrian1.8 - 0.774Azerbaijan Phoca pontica (59668)