File:Caspian_seal_03.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
The Caspian seal, scientifically named *Pusa caspica*, is a species of marine mammal. It belongs to the family Phocidae within the order Carnivora and class Mammalia. The taxon was described by Gmelin in 1788 and is currently accepted as a valid species. Its parent taxon is *Pusa*.
This organism has a gestation period of 11 months. According to the IUCN Red List, the Caspian seal holds an Endangered conservation status, a classification recorded in 2016.
Synthesized by Vinony from 22 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, WoRMS, IUCN Red List, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
In the Vinony graph
Caspian seal appears in Vinony's Endangered Species collection — one of 17,243 entries.
Vinony's link graph records 513 inbound references to Caspian seal, and connects out to Canis lupus, Hyaenidae and sea lion.
It is catalogued under topics including Commons link is locally defined, Endemic fauna of the Caspian Sea and Fauna of the Caspian Sea.
Vinony links it to 46 Wikipedia language editions.
Species
EndangeredCaspian seal
Species
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderCarnivora
- FamilyPhocidae
via IUCN
Wikidata facts
Show 8 more facts
- taxon rank
- species
- IUCN conservation status
- Endangered status
- taxon name
- Pusa caspica
- Commons category
- Pusa caspica
- Commons gallery
- Pusa caspica
- taxon common name
- Kaspische Ringelrobbe
- gestation period
- 11
- short name
- P. caspica
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~15 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica, syn. Phoca caspica) is one of the smallest members of the earless seal family and unique in that it is found exclusively in the brackish Caspian Sea. It lives along the shorelines, but also on the many rocky islands and floating blocks of ice that dot the Caspian Sea. In winter and cooler parts of the spring and autumn season, it populates the northern Caspian coastline. As the ice melts in the summer and warmer parts of the spring and autumn season, it also occurs in the deltas of the Volga and Ural Rivers, as well as the southern latitudes of the Caspian where the water is cooler due to greater depth.
Evidence suggests that the colonization events of Caspian seals were probably facilitated by river connections from the Arctic that have since disappeared, land-locking the populations sometime before the major Pleistocene glaciations.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Caspian seal” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.