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difficult to find photographs of harbor seals showing off their full neck presumably they only do it rarely and briefly but blogger kitty kono has an amazing snapshot from kitty kono s blog back in the u s a used with permission i of course covered all this in my weddell s long necked seal article but now i ll take things further by determining just how long seal necks are the tails and sacral vertebrae varied much more than what i expected plus one source often lumped the two so rather than measure necks relative to the length of the entire spine i did so relative to only the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae t l from here on and yes there is going to be an appendix to this blog post black skull gray for no data red cervical light blue background equal to shortest neck pink equal to longest neck blue thoracic green lumbar yellow sacral orange caudal species are top to bottom dog bearded seal erignathus weddell seal leptonychotes southern elephant seal mirounga leonina leopard seal hydrurga hooded seal cystophora harbor seal phoca vitulina ringed seal pusa hispida harp seal pagophilus phocid necks range from 21 t l in bearded seals to 35 t l in harp seals which falls short of dogs with necks 40 5 of their t l weddell seals were initially described as long necked so it s amazing to see they re at the low end of the spectrum with necks only 23 t l contemporary sources almost always describe leopard seals as long necked however their necks are only 29 t l so perhaps thin necked would be a more apt description the extinct seal acrophoca is also typically described as long necked although judging from this skeletal illustration and mounted specimen the neck is around 30 t l the closest true seals have to long necks come from members of the tribe phocini phoca pusa pagophilus although i have no idea why that would be the case piérard 1971 cites a source giving 35 for harbor seal t l so my figure above is probably a shorter necked young individual northern fur seals callorhinus ursinus at mystic aquarium as for otariids eared seals sometimes described as having snakelike necks e g riedman 1990 do they truly have long necks or is this a deception from thin necks held out straight otariids require a considerable amount of mass before and after their foreflippers their source of propulsion for stability and so they keep their necks out fairly straight king 1983 phocid and otariid necks have been described as similar in length rommel reynolds 2002 although just to be on the safe side i ll quantify this as well same deal as before but now with walrus odobenus rosmarus australian sealion neophoca cinerea australian fur seal arctocephalus pusillus doriferus california sealion zalophus californianus steller s sealion eumetopias jubatus northern fur seal callorhinus ursinus otariid necks vary little from 34 5 t l in australian sealions and most other being only slightly higher to 41 t l in northern fur seals so there is certainly quite a pronounced difference in neck length between bearded seals and northern fur seals it does not seem that the average phocid otariid or walrus is not truly that different in neck length it should be cautioned that proportional neck length can change considerably during maturity so there is certainly some error in these figures the bearded seal was reportedly an old female hayden 1880 so if anything it may have had a longer neck than average one thing i haven t mentioned so far is that pinnipeds have far longer tails than most observers would expect ranging from 13 5 t l in northern fur seals to 41 t l in ringed seals i really have no idea why this would be the case references allen j 1880 history of north american pinnipeds available king j 1983 seals of the world piérard j 1971 osteology and myology of the weddell seal leptonychotes weddelli lesson 1826 available in burt w editor antarctic pinnipedia riedman m 1990 the pinnipeds seals sea lions and walruses rommel s reynolds j 2002 skeletal anatomy in perrin w et al eds encyclopedia of marine mammals relevant passage skull cerv thor lumb sac caud dog king 17 00 24 00 18 00 4 00 37 00 bearded hayden 230 250 800 390 175 350 weddell piérard 0 274 820 385 150 385 s elephant hayden 480 570 1690 670 250 680 leopard king 17 00 37 00 22 00 3 00 21 00 hooded hayden 265 275 630 320 190 290 harbor hayden 220 210 445 216 120 230 ringed hayden 163 200 410 190 100 245 harp king 19 00 37 00 17 00 7 00 21 00 walrus 390 400 1170 380 550 n fur hayden 275 430 770 270 160 140 n fur hayden 245 360 680 245 145 145 n fur hayden 200 200 520 185 105 160 n fur hayden 185 172 470 173 95 120 aus sealion king 20 00 43 00 15 00 7 00 15 00 aus fur king 21 00 44 00 15 00 6 00 13 00 cal sealion hayden 236 320 640 230 280 steller s hayden 374 500 1050 340 440 steller s hayden 385 540 1090 400 520 data from king 1983 were in percentage of the entire spine with no data on skull length some data from hayden 1880 is in millimeters and for instances where sacral and caudal vertebrae were lumped i signified this with in the area for sacral measurement this entry was posted in carnivorans mammals museum of comparative zoology original research roger williams park zoo soft tissue and tagged carnivorans harvard marine mammals pinnipeds on march 15 2013 by cameron weddell s long necked seal 1 reply from weddell 1825 experts are not immune from making mistakes even really bizarre ones ahem take james weddell for instance a keen observer of pinnipeds and other marine life fogg 1992 who somehow produced the monstrosity above the intended subject isn t any old seal it s a weddell seal leptonychotes weddellii mostly the circumstances behind this illustration are vague and contradictory but fogg 1992 reasoned it was based both on a specimen deposited in the edinburgh museum and weddell s memory of wild seals which may have conflated weddell and leopard seals it s probably notable that weddell referred to his namesake as a sea leopard now the national museum of scotland weddell 1825 included a brief description of his preserved specimen from one professor jamieson who noted the long and tapering neck and small head and argued that weddell s seal had dentition distinct from a leopard seal s the following year rené primevère lesson named the species otaria weddelli from jamieson s description and weddell s illustration but not an actual examination of the specimen which apparently means weddell seals don t have a proper type specimen scheffer 1958 nobody seems to know why lesson classified weddell s seal as a sealion hence otaria although i d suspect it was due to the slender neck so what s up with that mysterious neck from hamilton 1839 hamilton 1839 described weddell s specimen as having a proportionally very small head and a small long and tapering neck however the accompanying illustration makes it clear these traits are quite subtle at least compared to weddell s illustration hamilton 1839 also took measurements unfortunately over the back but it s still interesting that the distance from the snout to the base of the fore flipper is 1 04 meters compared with a snout tail length of slightly under 3 meters it would seem remarkable for a true seal to have a head and neck length around one third that of the body but in fact it s totally normal weddell seal in a more typical pose from richardson gray 1845 despite external appearances seals and sealions have necks that are proportionally similar in length although seals typically hold theirs in a deep s curve rommel reynolds 2002 i would highly recommend clicking on this link the disparity between the external neck and the length of cervical vertebrae is truly astounding as for why seals do this it s for slingshot potential to capture prey rommel reynolds 2002 so they re apparently like snapping turtles except they hide their necks in blubber rather than a shell anyways weddell seals have cervical vertebrae that take up 14 of the vertebrae column including the tail and the series is slightly longer than the condylobasal length of the skull piérard 1971 so the proportions described by hamilton are indeed plausible the posture still seems odd i can t find any photographs of a weddell seal in such a pose and i wonder if whoever mounted weddell s specimen did so leopard seal style since that species appears to hold its neck out fairly straight for a true seal it would be interesting to see what the mount actually looks like but unfortunately i haven t been able to track down any photographs since i couldn t provide a photograph of a weddell seal in a weird pose this walrus will have to do from scheffer 1958 i can t help but think of parson s long necked seal and if that was another example of a specimen mounted with an extreme posture whose morphology was exaggerated even more by an illustrator curiously some early workers considered parson s and weddell s seals to be synonymous hamilton 1839 but whatever parson s seal was it probably wasn t an antarctic visitor references allen j 1905 the mammalia of southern patagonia reports of the princeton university expeditions to patagonia 3 1 1 210 relevant passage fogg r 1992 a history of antarctic science relevant passage hamilton r 1839 the natural history of the amphibious carnivora available relevant passage piérard j 1971 osteology and myology of the weddell seal leptonychotes weddelli lesson 1826 available in burt w editor antarctic pinnipedia richardson j gray j 1845 zoology of the voyage of the h m s erebus and terror available relevant passage illustration rommel s reynolds j 2002 skeletal anatomy in perrin w et al eds encyclopedia of marine mammals scheffer v 1958 seals sea lions and walruses a review of the pinnipedia weddell j 1825 a voyage towards the south pole second edition available relevant passage this entry was posted in anecdotal evidence carnivorans mammals old stuff species discoveries and tagged anecdotal evidence carnivorans leptonychotes weddellii pinnipeds species discovery weddell s seal on march 4 2013 by cameron the otter civet 4 replies from the museum of comparative zoology harvard otter civets cynogale bennettii are a poorly known and endangered species of hemigaline viverrid from the thai malay peninsula borneo and sumatra veron et al 2006 there are also unconfirmed reports from northern vietnam c lowei southern china northern thailand and java veron et al 2006 the mount above appears to be this specimen and was probably collected in borneo in 1881 by henry a ward it certainly shows its age but it s no taxidermic aberration photographs of live specimens show the whiskers and mystacial pads really are that ridiculously hypertrophied from wikipedia commons the illustration above demonstrates more remarkable morphology the nostrils open dorsally an even more extreme position than those of seals and otters pocock 1915 pocock 1915 speculated this feature allows otter civets to be ambush predators picking off unsuspecting birds and small mammals looking for a drink nowak 2005 lists birds and small mammals as part of the otter civet s diet and treats pocock s speculative behavior as likely although it still appears to be entirely hypothetical any nature documentarians up for filming this potential mammalian mini crocodile in action anyways otter civets also have adaptations for activities below the surface as their nostrils can be closed with flaps and their ears can be closed as well nowak 2005 while some early workers considered otter civets to have large orbits gregory hellman 1939 the eyes appear to be on the small side for a civet which is unsurprising considering the vast array of whiskers but not leopard seals it would seem top row banded linsang masked palm civet bottom row binturong common palm civet and otter civet otter civet weirdness doesn t stop at the head despite their closest relatives being plantigrade otter civets are fully digitigrade gaubert et al 2005 which is rather unexpected for a semi aquatic species the feet are broad with flexible digits and some webbing nowak 2005 the tail is curiously short compare to the civets and prionodontid above and lacks specialized musculature nowak 2005 due to the lack of webbing and underwhelming tail nowak 2005 speculated that otter civets are slow and unmaneuverable swimmers specialized for capturing cornered prey which ties in with pocock s speculation that the abundant whiskers are an adaptation for discovering hiding prey aside from terrestrial species their diet includes fish crustaceans and possibly molluscs nowak 2005 top row otter civet aquatic genet bottom row hemigalus chrotogale all skulls from gregory hellman 1939 otter civets are members of the clade hemigalinae along with hemigalus chrotogale diplogale and it was recently argued macrogalidia wilting fickel 2012 the skeletal comparisons above and below also include the aquatic genet genetta piscivora a more distant relative that as the name suggests is also semi aquatic gregory and hellman 1939 discussed some minor skeletal traits shared by otter civets and aquatic genets but found the convergence to be minor otter civet teeth really stand out the elongate serrated premolars are specialized for grasping prey while the blunt cusped rounded molars are specialized for crushing gregory hellman 1939 nowak 2005 gregory and hellman 1939 also described an enlarged infra orbital foramen and enlarged areas for muscle attachment anterior to the orbits which is related to the abundant whiskers and hypertrophied facial musculature although it s far less pronounced than what i would have expected curiously there doesn t seem to be any obvious anatomy relating to the strange position of the nostrils top to bottom otter civet aquatic genet hemigalus skulls from gregory and hellman 1939 otter civets have been kept in captivity and have apparently been observed foraging in water vernon et al 2006 although full disclosure i cannot find any specific information on its behavior in water on land it has been observed doing some surprising things climbing trees as well as eating fruit and insects nowak 2005 wilting et al 2010 although most observations appear to be fleeting glimpses otter civets are typically photographed nears ponds and streams and are thought to primarily inhabit peat swamp and primary forests although they have also been observed in logged and secondary forest wilting et al 2010 cheyne et al 2010 however observations of otter civets are becoming increasingly uncommon and it is believed habitat destruction has reduced its population veron et al 2006 and on a somewhat more upbeat note here is some of the first footage of otter civets in the wild references cheyne s et al 2010 first otter civet cynogale bennettii photographed in sabangau peat swamp forest indonesian borneo small carnivore conservation 42 25 26 available gaubert p et al 2005 mosaics of convergences and noise in morphological phylogenies what s in a viverrid like carnivoran systematic biology 54 6 865 894 av...