Leopard seal
| Leopard seal Temporal range: Early Pliocene – Recent | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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 | |
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List
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The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is a top order predator, feeding on a wide range of prey including cephalopods, other pinnipeds, krill, fish, and birds, particularly penguins, and its only natural predator being the orca. 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.