Hadrokirus

Hadrokirus martini Temporal range: Late Miocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Phocidae
Genus:	†Hadrokirus
Type species
†Hadrokirus martini Amson & Muizon, 2013

Hadrokirus martini is an extinct species of true seal (Phocidae) that lived on the coast of Peru about 6 million years ago. It was found in the Pisco Formation, together with other marine animals such as crustaceans, sharks, coastal birds, whales and aquatic sloths. The main particularity of this seal dwells in its teeth: they are extremely robust, hence the name (hadros, stout in Greek; kiru, tooth in Quechua). It is assumed that Hadrokirus martini was durophagous, its diet probably comprised crustaceans, small bivalves and other shelled animals, as it is seen for instance in the living sea otter. The extant seals the most closely related to Hadrokirus martini are the Lobodontini (seals from Antarctica).