Monachinae

Monachinae is a subfamily of Phocidae whose distribution is found in the tropical, temperate and polar regions of the Southern Hemisphere, though in the distant past fossil representatives have been found on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean. The difference between members of this group and members of Phocinae is in monachines the hindclaws are greatly reduced in size. Furthermore, all species have 34 chromosomes. There are three tribes recognized here: Monachini, Miroungini, and Lobodontini. While today represented by eight extant and one recently extinct species, Monachinae had an incredibly enriched fossil diversity that went into decline soon to be replaced by southern species of sea lions and fur seals.

Monachinae

Liam Quinn · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
PhocidaePBDB
Diet
piscivore, carnivorePBDB, for Phocidae
Life habit
amphibiousPBDB, for Pinnipedia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Pinnipedia

Time the record covers

At least 20 million years on record.

The record covers at least 20.45 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 280 occurrencesMiocene — about 64 of 280 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 35 of 280 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 33 of 280 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 3 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 5 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 5 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 5 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 5 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 5 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 6 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 9 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 9 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 10 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 11 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 10 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 7 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 5 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 7 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 167 occurrences20.45 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

280 occurrences of Monachinae on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

280 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

34 formations

Pisco — 15.44°S, 74.87°WPisco — 15.56°S, 74.69°WPisco — 14.56°S, 75.67°WPisco — 15.50°S, 74.80°WPisco — 15.55°S, 74.80°WPisco — 14.45°S, 75.75°WBahía Inglesa — 27.14°S, 70.88°WBahía Inglesa — 27.04°S, 70.79°WBahía Inglesa — 27.16°S, 70.89°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WYorktown — 34.36°N, 77.87°WYorktown — 37.04°N, 76.36°WYorktown — 36.45°N, 77.08°WVarswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°EVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°EPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.80°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.83°N, 118.31°WBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.99°S, 145.04°ECalvert — 37.53°N, 77.42°WPeace River — 27.90°N, 81.80°WArgille Azzurre — 43.48°N, 10.52°EBermont — 27.00°N, 82.20°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WSt Marys — 38.16°N, 76.45°WBredasdorp & Varswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°EMuluk — 30.42°N, 30.25°ESalsomaggiore — 44.73°N, 10.03°EPuerto Madryn — 42.24°S, 64.19°WSocastee — 33.74°N, 78.87°WHautawan — 39.49°S, 176.92°EGroote Heide — 52.04°N, 6.67°EBlue Clay — 35.91°N, 14.34°EMarada — 28.76°N, 19.74°ESabbie di nugola Vecchia — 43.56°N, 10.53°ESant Onofre — 40.76°N, 0.59°ESucesion Litoral de Mejillones — 23.06°S, 70.36°WPetane — 39.31°S, 176.81°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Monachinae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 10 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 186 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

1,582 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 240 sites for Monachinae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

115 references

Each of the 280 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 103 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Monachinae

Credit
Liam Quinn
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Monachinae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPhocidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Trouessart 1897