Leopard seal

Leopard seal; Temporal range: Early Pliocene – Recent
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Parvorder:	Pinnipedia
Family:	Phocidae
Subfamily:	Monachinae
Tribe:	Lobodontini
Genus:	Hydrurga; Gistel, 1848
Species:	H. leptonyx
Binomial name
	Hydrurga leptonyx; (Blainville, 1820)
	Hydrurga leptonyx range map
Synonyms
	List Phoca leptonyx de Blainville, 1820 ; Stenorhynchus leptonyx (Lesson, 1827) ; Phoca Homei (Lesson, 1828) ; Phoca leptonix (McMurtrie, 1831) ; Stenorhincus Leptonyx (C. H. Smith, 1842) ; Stenorynchus leptonyx (Lesson, 1842) ; Ogmorhinus leptonyx (J. A. Allen, 1880) ; Hydrurga leptonyx (J. A. Allen, 1905) ; Hydrurga leptonyz (Wozencraft, 2005) ; ;

The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard, is a long and muscular seal native to the Southern Ocean of Antarctica and southern Patagonia. It is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is the same length as, but half the weight of, a walrus. Its fur coat is countershaded, being silver on the bottom and dark gray on the top, and is distinctive for its leopard-like pattern of dark spots.

The leopard seal is an apex predator, with massive jaws, and teeth which are 2.5 cm (1 in) long. It feeds on a wide range of prey including its fellow pinnipeds, cephalopods, krill, fish, and birds, particularly penguins. Its only natural predator is the orca. It uses its hearing and whiskers to track prey underwater.

It is the only species in the genus Hydrurga. Its closest relatives are the Ross seal, the crabeater seal, and the Weddell seal, which are all Antarctic seals of the tribe Lobodontini.