''Pliophoca'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of seal in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Phocidae.

Fossil record

This genus is known from late Pliocene (

Piacenzian The Piacenzian is in the international geologic time scale the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage or latest age (geology), age of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 3.6 ± 0.005 year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma and 2.588 ± 0.005 Ma (million yea ...

) marine deposits in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Numerous disassociated monachine remains from the Lee Creek Mine of North Carolina were assigned by Koretsky and Ray (2008), but Berta et al. (2015) rejected the referral and suggested that they may be distinct, which was confirmed by Dewaele et al. (2018), who erected '' Auroraphoca'' for two of the Lee Creek specimens that Koretsky and Ray (2008) assigned to ''Pliophoca''. This fossil species of seal, ancestor of the

Mediterranean monk seal The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Ae ...

(''Monachus monachus'') has been found only in late

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Piacenzian The Piacenzian is in the international geologic time scale the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage or latest age (geology), age of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 3.6 ± 0.005 year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma and 2.588 ± 0.005 Ma (million yea ...

) deposits at Orciano and Volterra in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

. It was a species endemic to the Mediterranean Sea.Annalisa Berta, Sarah Kienlead, Giovanni Bianucci & Silvia Sorb
A Reevaluation of ''Pliophoca etrusca'' (Pinnipedia, Phocidae) from the Pliocene of Italy: Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Implications
''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' - Volume 35, Issue 1, 2015

Bibliography

* G. Tavani. 1941. ''Revisione dei resti del pinnipede conservato nel museo di geologia di Pisa''. Palaeontographica Italica 40:97-112 * T. A. Demere, A. Berta, and P. J. Adam. 2003. ''Pinnipedimorph evolutionary biogeography''. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 279:32-76 * Roberto Lawley. 1875. ''Pesci ed altri vertebrati fossili del pliocene toscano''. Letta all'adunanza della Società Toscana di Scienze Naturali. Pisa, Tipografia Nistri * Roberto Lawley. 1876. ''Nuovi studi sopra ai pesci ed altri vertebrati fossili delle Colline Toscane''. Firenze. Tipografia dell’Arte della Stampa. * R. Ugolini. 1902. ''Il Monachus albiventer BODD. del pliocene di Orciano''. Palaeontographia Italica. Volume VIII. pag. 1-20, tav. I-III -III fig. 1. * R. Ugolini. 1902. ''Resti di foche fossili italiane''. Atti Soc. Tosc. di Sc. Nat. Pisa, Memorie, vol.XIX, 1902, pag.13, con 1 tav. -

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3906722 Prehistoric carnivoran genera Monachines Pliocene pinnipeds Pinnipeds of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1941