Difference between revisions of "Weddell seal"

==Taxonomy and evolution==

==Taxonomy and evolution==

The Weddell seal shares a common recent ancestor with the other Antarctic seals, which are together known as the ''lobodontine'' seals. These include the [[crabeater seal]] and the [[leopard seal]]. These species share teeth adaptations including lobes and cusps useful for straining smaller prey items out of the water. The ancestral Lobodontini likely diverged from its sister clade, the Mirounga (elephant seals) in the late Miocene to early Pliocene, when they migrated southward and diversified rapidly to form four distinct genera in relative isolation around Antarctica.

The Weddell seal shares a common recent ancestor with the other Antarctic seals, which are together known as the ''lobodontine'' seals. These include the [[crabeater seal]] and the [[leopard seal]]. These species share teeth adaptations including lobes and cusps useful for straining smaller prey items out of the water. The ancestral Lobodontini likely diverged from its sister clade, the Mirounga (elephant seals) in the late Miocene to early Pliocene, when they migrated southward and diversified rapidly to form four distinct genera in relative isolation around Antarctica.