''Hadrokirus'' is an extinct genus of true seal ( Phocidae) that lived on the coast of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

about 6 million years ago. The type species, ''H. martini'', was found in the

Pisco Formation The Pisco Formation is a geologic formation located in Peru, on the southern coastal desert of Ica, Peru, Ica and Arequipa. The approximately thick formation was deposited in the Pisco Basin, spanning an age from the Miocene, Middle Miocene up to ...

, together with other marine animals such as

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

, coastal

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

and aquatic sloths. The distinguishing feature of the seal was its teeth: they were extremely robust, hence the name (, "stout" in Greek; , tooth in

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

). It is assumed that ''Hadrokirus martini'' was durophagous; its diet probably comprised crustaceans, small bivalves and other shelled animals, similar to that of the living

sea otter The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the small ...

. The living seals most closely related to ''Hadrokirus'' are the Antarctic seals.Amson & De Muizon, 2013

References

Bibliography

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15115406 Lobodontins Miocene pinnipeds Prehistoric carnivoran genera †Hadrokirus Miocene mammals of South America Neogene Peru Fossils of Peru Pisco Formation Fossil taxa described in 2013