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An artist’s impression of the recently discovered and extirpated monk seal species. Credit: Jaime Bran. Copyrigh: Te Papa Museum of New Zealand.
The discovery, published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, radically changes scientists’ understanding of how seal species evolved around the world.
It came after researchers examined seven preserved fossil specimens, including a complete skull, found by local fossil hunters on the southern beaches of Taranaki in New Zealand between 2009 and 2016.
The new species is named Eomonachus belegaerensis, (meaning “ Belegaer’s dawn monk seal ”) after the Belegaer Sea, which is found west of Middle-earth in Lord of the Rings of JRR Tolkien.
About 2.5 meters long and weighing around 200 to 250 kg, Eomonachus belegaerensis lived in the waters around New Zealand about 3 million years ago.
It was previously thought that all true seals came from the North Atlantic, with some later crossing the equator to live as far south as Antarctica.
Eomonac now shows that many ancient seals, including the ancestors of today’s monk, elephant, and Antarctic seals, actually evolved in the southern hemisphere.
Paleontologist Monash James Rule, a Ph.D. candidate at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute, led research in a trans-Tasman collaboration involving Monash University and Victoria Museums in Australia, and Te Papa and Canterbury Museum in New Zealand. The study was supervised and co-authored by Dr Justin Adams (Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute), Dr Erich Fitzgerald (Victoria Museums) and Associate Professor Alistair Evans (School of Biological Sciences).
Pieces of the fossil specimens found include a complete skull. Credit: Monash University
“This new species of extinct monk seal is the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Its discovery is truly changing the evolution of the seal,” Rule said.
“Until now, we thought that all true seals originated in the northern hemisphere and then crossed the equator once or twice in their entire evolutionary history. Instead, many of them appear to have evolved in the South Pacific and then crisscrossed. the equator up to eight times. “
Te Papa Museum of New Zealand marine mammal curator and study collaborator Dr Felix Marx said the discovery was a triumph for citizen science.
“This new species was discovered thanks to numerous exceptionally well-preserved fossils, all found by members of the public.”
Monash University paleontologist James Rule inspects the fossil skull of the newly identified monk seal species. Credit: No credit required
Dr Marx is optimistic about future discoveries of new species in New Zealand’s ancient past.
“New Zealand is incredibly rich in fossils, and so far we’ve barely scratched the surface. Who knows what else?” Dr Marx said.
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The first monk seal in the southern hemisphere rewrites the evolutionary history of true seals, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2020). rspb.royalsocietypublishing.or… .1098 / rspb.2020.2318
Provided by Monash University
Quote: New Species of Fossil Seals Rewrites History (November 10, 2020) Retrieved November 10, 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-11-fossil-species-rewrites-history.html
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