Evolutionary distinctiveness of extant monk seals in light of their extinct relative
In the early 1905s the Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis) went extinct. The other two species of the same genus live in Hawaii (Hawaiian monk seal, Monachus schauinslandi) and in the Mediterranean and off the coast of NW Africa (Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus). Both are Critically Endangered according to the IUCN. The evolutionary relationships among the three species have remained an open question. Caribbean monk seal specimen collected in Matanzas, Cuba.
