How big does a Caribbean monk seal get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis) reaches an average size of 2.29 meter (7′ 7″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 198.38 kg (437.35 lbs). A Caribbean monk seal has 1 babies at once. The Caribbean monk seal (genus: Monachus) is a member of the family Phocidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The Caribbean monk seal, West Indian seal or sea wolf (Neomonachus tropicalis) was a species of seal native to the Caribbean and is now believed to be extinct. The Caribbean monk seals’ main predators were sharks and humans. Overhunting of the seals for oil and overfishing of their food sources are the established reasons for the seals’ extinction. The last confirmed sighting of the Caribbean Monk Seal was in 1952 at Serranilla Bank, between Jamaica and Nicaragua. In 2008, the species was officially declared extinct by the United States after an exhaustive search for the seals that lasted for about five years. This analysis was conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Caribbean monk seals were closely related to the Hawaiian monk seals, which live around the Hawaiian Islands and are now endangered, and Mediterranean monk seals, another endangered species.
Animals of the same family as a Caribbean monk seal
We found other animals of the Phocidae family:
- Weddell seal with a size of 2.55 meter (8′ 5″)
- Harbor seal with a size of 1.61 meter (5′ 4″)
- Hawaiian monk seal with a size of 2.24 meter (7′ 5″)
- Caspian seal with a size of 1.41 meter (4′ 8″)
- Northern elephant seal with a size of 3.72 meter (12′ 3″)
- Ribbon seal with a size of 1.53 meter (5′ 1″)
- Mediterranean monk seal with a size of 2.6 meter (8′ 7″)
- Harp seal with a size of 1.73 meter (5′ 9″)
- Spotted seal with a size of 1.64 meter (5′ 5″)
- Grey seal with a size of 2.08 meter (6′ 10″)
Animals with the same size as a Caribbean monk seal
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Caribbean monk seal:
- Pantropical spotted dolphin with a size of 2.14 meter (7′ 1″)
- Sambar deer with a size of 2.04 meter (6′ 9″)
- Nyala with a size of 1.94 meter (6′ 5″)
- Red deer with a size of 2.14 meter (7′ 1″)
- Giant forest hog with a size of 2.03 meter (6′ 8″)
- Crabeater seal with a size of 2.27 meter (7′ 6″)
- Grévy’s zebra with a size of 2.7 meter (8′ 11″)
- Mountain nyala with a size of 2.25 meter (7′ 5″)
- Spinner dolphin with a size of 2.13 meter (7′ 0″)
- Polar bear with a size of 2 meter (6′ 7″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Caribbean monk seal
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Caribbean monk seal:
- Preuss’s red colobus
- Egyptian slit-faced bat
- Smoky pocket gopher
- Tarabundí vole
- Horse
- Dibatag
- Maned rat
- Northern naked-tailed armadillo
- Least horseshoe bat
- Long-tailed fruit bat
Animals with the same weight as a Caribbean monk seal
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Monachus tropicalis:
- Anoa with a weight of 180.86 kilos (398.73 lbs)
- Atlantic white-sided dolphin with a weight of 186.76 kilos (411.73 lbs)
- Mountain nyala with a weight of 215 kilos (473.99 lbs)
- Crabeater seal with a weight of 225 kilos (496.04 lbs)
- Brown fur seal with a weight of 178.75 kilos (394.08 lbs)
- Nilgai with a weight of 181.63 kilos (400.43 lbs)
- Crabeater seal with a weight of 225 kilos (496.04 lbs)
- Hartebeest with a weight of 162.47 kilos (358.18 lbs)
- Brown bear with a weight of 196.14 kilos (432.41 lbs)
- Fraser’s dolphin with a weight of 164 kilos (361.56 lbs)