''Neomonachus'' is a genus of
earless seal
The earless seals, phocids or true seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal lineage, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae (). They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from th ...
s, within the
family Phocidae. It contains two species: the endangered
Hawaiian monk seal
The Hawaiian monk seal (''Neomonachus schauinslandi'') is an endangered species of earless seal in the family Phocidae that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.
The Hawaiian monk seal is one of two extant monk seal species; the other is the ...
, and the
extinct Caribbean monk seal. Prior to 2014, all three species of
monk seal
Monk seals are earless seals of the tribe Monachini. They are the only earless seals found in tropical climates. The two genera of monk seals, ''Monachus'' and ''Neomonachus'', comprise three species: the Mediterranean monk seal, ''Monachus mona ...
s were placed in the genus ''
Monachus'', but that was found to be
paraphyletic.
Species
References
Phocins
Mammal genera
Mammal genera with one living species
Taxa named by Graham J. Slater
Taxa named by Kristofer M. Helgen
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