Leopard seal
The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predator is the orca. It feeds on a wide range of prey including cephalopods, other pinnipeds, krill, fish, and birds, particularly penguins. It is the only species in the genus Hydrurga. Its closest relatives are the Ross seal, the crabeater seal and the Weddell seal, which together are known as the tribe of Lobodontini seals. The name hydrurga means "water worker" and leptonyx is the Greek for "thin-clawed".
| Leopard seal Temporal range: Early Pliocene – Recent | |
|---|---|
| At the Antarctic Sound, near Brown Bluff, Tabarin Peninsula | |
| Size compared to a 1.82 m (6ft) human | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Clade: | Pinnipedia |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Subfamily: | Monachinae |
| Tribe: | Lobodontini |
| Genus: | Hydrurga Gistel, 1848 |
| Species: | H. leptonyx |
| Binomial name | |
| Hydrurga leptonyx (Blainville, 1820) | |
| Hydrurga leptonyx range map | |
| Synonyms | |
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