Taxonomy

Evolutionary Traits & Changes

1. DNA analysis shows that the split between the Caribbean and Hawaiian monk seals happened later, around 3 to 4 million years ago.

2. Losing the Hawaiian monk seal in particular means losing an entire genus, so ironing out the family tree makes the case for conservation even more compelling (as if adorable images of Hawaiian monk seals weren’t compelling enough).

3. The Hawaiian and Caribbean monk seals had some key differences: narrower skulls, less pronounced brow lines, and a longer snout, among other features, which set them apart from their Mediterranean kin.

4. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to child and provides a way for researchers to trace changes in a lineage. This particular gene has been extensively studied, and given what they know about how the genetic sequence evolved over millennia, scientists can estimate when species diverged.

5. The new branch of the family tree, Neomonachus, means that species of living monk seals are more distantly related than previously thought—and that the stakes for saving the rare creatures are even higher.

6. Monk seals are the only phocids of tropical and subtropical waters. The genus Monachus is represented by three relict populations with a widely disjunct distribution.