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Neomonachus (Hawaiian monk seal)

Mammalia - Carnivora - Phocidae

Discussion

Attributed to Slater & Helgen

Synonymy list
YearName and author
2014Neomonachus Scheel et al.
2018Neomonachus Berta et al. p. 210
2019Neomonachus Kienle and Berta

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Life
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
subclassSynapsida
Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
Mammaliamorpha
Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
RankNameAuthor
Theriiformes()
Trechnotheria
Cladotheria
Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
Eutheria()
Placentalia
Boreoeutheria
Laurasiatheria
Scrotifera
Ferae()
CarnivoramorphaWyss and Flynn 1993
CarnivoraformesFlynn et al.
orderCarnivora
suborderCaniformiaKretzoi 1943
infraorderCanoidea(Simpson 1931)
superfamilyArctoideaFlower 1869
PanpinnipediaWolsan et al. 2020
Pinnipedimorpha
Pinnipedia()
superfamilyPhocoideaSmirnov 1908
familyPhocidae()
subfamilyMonachinae
genusNeomonachus

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. Neomonachus Scheel et al. 2014 [Hawaiian monk seal]
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Neomonachus schauinslandi Hermann 1779 [Hawaiian monk seal]
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Invalid names: Cystophora antillarum Gray 1849 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
D.-M. Scheel et al. 2014Species of Neomonachus can be distinguished from Monachus in their smaller average body size and in lacking a white ventral patch on the pelage (in both adults and young) (Adam 2004). Species of Neomonachus possess a narrower and more gracile skull than Monachus, with relatively poorly developed sagittal and occipital crests in even the largest males (Figure 5). The rostrum is low and elongate with a conspicuous diastema between C1 and the first upper premolar (P1). In Monachus, the diastema is lacking and the anterior edge of P1 may be positioned medially to the canine (Figures 5, 6). The antorbital process of the maxilla (Figure 7) is present in Monachus but is extremely reduced or absent in Neomonachus (King 1956). The nasals are relatively narrow and posteriorly extended in Neomonachus compared to Monachus (Figure 7). The zygomatic arch is dorso-ventrally shallow and the jugal portion lacks a well-developed masseteric margin ventrally or orbital margin superiorly (the zygomatic arch is robust and both margins are well-defined in Monachus) (Figure 5). The pterygoid shows a conspicuous, laterally flared hamular process in Neomonachus (King 1956) that may be spatulate (Neomonachus schauinslandi) or hook-like (Neomonachus tropicalis); the process is absent or small and medially inflected in Monachus (Figure 8).