🦭Mediterranean Monk Seal
The Mediterranean monk seal is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. As of 2026, it is estimated that between 800 and 1000 individuals survive in isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Aegean Sea, the archipelago of Madeira, and the Cabo Blanco area in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean spanning the border of Mauritania and Western Sahara. It is believed to be the world's rarest pinniped species. It is the only extant species in the genus Monachus, the other two monk seal species being in Neomonachus.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2023.
- Body mass
- 285 kg
- Body length
- 2.6 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 24 years
Everything we know about the Mediterranean Monk Seal
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass285 kgrecord 400 kg · SeaLifeBaseCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Record: largest individual on record
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 275 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Body length2.6 mCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 2.8 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Brain mass497 gCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan24 yearsrecord 36 years · SeaLifeBaseCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Record: largest individual on record
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Generation length11 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Age at maturity4.3 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Gestation319 daysCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 289 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Litter size1COMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Trophic levelOmnivoreCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleCrepuscular / mixedCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l285 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Mediterranean Monk Seal yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classMammalia
- ›orderCarnivora
- ›familyPhocidae
- ›genusMonachus
- ›speciesMonachus monachus
- classMammals · Mammalia
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- familyPhocidae
- genusMonachus
All 14 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- classMammals · Mammalia
- subclassTheria
- superorderLaurasiatheria
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- suborderCaniformia
- familyPhocidae
- genusMonachus
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