Caribbean Monk Seal Skull
$227.00
This species had a distinctive head and face. The head was rounded with an extended broad muzzle. The face had relatively large wide-spaced eyes, upward opening nostrils, and fairly big whisker pads with long light-colored smooth whiskers.
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Description
Caribbean Monk Seal Skull Replica measures 8.5 inches or 22cm. Caribbean Monk Seal Skull is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home décor skull, or office décor skull.
The Caribbean Monk seal or Neomonachus tropicalis, West Indian seal or sea wolf has not been found in the wild since 1952 and is believed to be extinct. Historically, this species was found throughout the Caribbean and Gulf Of Mexico.
This species was very abundant prior to the settlement of North America by Europeans. The monk seals lack of fear towards humans and gregarious basking made them easy prey for their meat and oil.
The Caribbean Monk seal or Neomonachus tropicalis had a relatively large, long, robust body, could grow to nearly 8 feet in length. The head was rounded with an extended broad muzzle. The face had relatively large wide-spaced eyes, upward opening nostrils, and fairly big whisker pads with long light-colored and smooth whiskers.
Their diet most likely consisted of fish and crustaceans. It is believed Caribbean Monk seal or Neomonachus tropicalis average lifespan was approximately twenty years.
The final extinction of the Caribbean Monk seal or Neomonachus tropicalis was triggered by two main factors. The most visible factor contributing to the Caribbean monk seals’ demise was the nonstop hunting and killing of the seals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to obtain the oil held within their blubber.
The insatiable demand for seal products in the Caribbean encouraged hunters to slaughter the Caribbean monk seals or Neomonachus tropicalis by the hundreds. The Caribbean monk seals’ docile nature and lack of flight instinct in the presence of humans made it very easy for anyone to kill them.
The second factor was the over fishing of the reefs that sustained the Caribbean Monk seal population. With no fish or mollusks to feed on, the seals that were not killed by hunters for oil died of starvation or did not reproduce as a result of an absence of food.
Surprisingly little was done towards attempting to save the Caribbean monk seal or Neomonachus tropicalis; by the time it was placed on the endangered species list in 1967 it was likely already extinct.
Caribbean Monk Seal Facts:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Clade: Pinnipedia
Family: Phocidae
Genus: Neomonachus
Species: †N. tropicalis
Binomial name: †Neomonachus tropicalis
Scientific name: monachus tropicalis
Conservation Status: Extinct – Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds, usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species.
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Additional information
Weight | 5 lbs |
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Dimensions | 8.5 in |
International Seal Day - March 22nd | Every year on March 22nd, the International Day of the Seal promotes the conservation of seals worldwide. It’s also a day to celebrate this amazing marine mammal. A seal is a type of animal called a pinniped, which is Latin for “fin-footed.” Other pinnipeds include the walrus and sea lion. What makes seals different than other pinnipeds is that they don’t really use their flippers to walk. When on land, they usually slide around on their bellies. In the water, their flippers help them swim really fast. Seals are also much quieter and smaller than their sea lion and walrus cousins. |