| Caspian seal | |
|---|---|
| |
| A Caspian seal in Iran | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Clade: | Pinnipedia |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Genus: | Pusa |
| Species: | P. caspica
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pusa caspica (Gmelin, 1788)
| |
| |
| Caspian seal range | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Phoca caspica
| |
The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica, syn. Phoca caspica)[1] is one of the smallest members of the earless seal family and unique in that it is found exclusively in the brackish Caspian Sea. It lives along the shorelines, but also on the many rocky islands and floating blocks of ice that dot the Caspian Sea. In winter and cooler parts of the spring and autumn season, it populates the northern Caspian coastline. As the ice melts in the summer and warmer parts of the spring and autumn season, it also occurs in the deltas of the Volga and Ural Rivers, as well as the southern latitudes of the Caspian where the water is cooler due to greater depth.
Evidence suggests that the colonization events of Caspian seals were probably facilitated by river connections from the Arctic that have since disappeared, landlocking the populations sometime before the major Pleistocene glaciations.[2]
- ^ a b Goodman, S.; Dmitrieva, L. (2016). "Pusa caspica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T41669A45230700. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T41669A45230700.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ PALO, JUKKA U.; VÄINÖLÄ, RISTO (2006-04-27). "The enigma of the landlocked Baikal and Caspian seals addressed through phylogeny of phocine mitochondrial sequences". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 88 (1): 61–72. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2006.00607.x. ISSN 0024-4066.