Seals are carnivorous mammals that belong to the family of true seals. The Latin name of this genus of animals sounds and is written as Pusa, but some scientists attribute them to another subgenus of the same family - Common seals (Phoca).
The main differences
In principle, one cannot somehow compare these animals, since seals are a collective concept that includes not only seals, but also monk seals, elephant seals, Ross seals, crabeater seals, sea leopard, Weddell seals, bearded seals (also called bearded seals), hooded seals, long-nosed seals, harp seals and striped seals. Well, seals are one of the genera of this diverse family, or the so-called subfamily.
But if we compare the seal with all other animals of the family, the former are considered smaller. So, the average size of the ringed seal is only about 1.25-1.3 m, and its weight is about 90 kg. The largest animals of this family are elephant seals - the weight of the males of these animals can reach 3, 5-3, 7 tons, and the length from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail is 6, 5-6, 7 m.
All genera of seals and habitats, food habits, as well as the timing of growth, rearing of pups, timing of weaning from the mother, and many other aspects are different.
More about seals
In addition to the already mentioned ringed seal, which is also called akiba, or in Latin Pusa hispida, this genus of animals includes the Baikal seal, or Pusa sibirica, and the Caspian seal - Pusa caspica. Unfortunately, all of them were and are objects of fishing, as a result of which some subspecies have already been included in the Red Book of Russia and the world.
The Baikal seal, as its name suggests, lives only in the fresh waters of Lake Baikal and is endemic to it. The resting places of these animals are usually located on the shores of the Ushkany Islands of the lake, and very often these curious seals swim up to the ships and to the shores of the lake. Animals feed on lake golomyanka and Baikal goby, and one individual is able to eat up to 1 ton of food per year.
In turn, the more thermophilic Caspian seal is endemic to the Caspian Sea. Moreover, these animals can often be seen at the mouth of the Volga River, as well as near the city of Volgograd. This seal lives up to 50 years, and can catch food at a depth of 80 m. Basically, these are sprat and various crustaceans.
The ringed seal is found only in the waters of the Arctic - in the Arctic Ocean. Unlike all other seals, they live exclusively alone and do not form massive haul-outs. These animals are traditionally hunted and slaughtered by the Eskimos. By the way, it is the ringed seal that is depicted on the coat of arms of the city of Snezhnogorsk.
