Monachinae

{{Short description|Subfamily of carnivores}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Southern seals

| image = Leopard Seal.jpg

| image_caption = Leopard seal, Hydrurga leptonyx

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|earliest=Chattian|Aquitanian|present}}Early Miocene – Holocene, possible late Oligocene record{{Cite journal|author1=Leonard Dewaele |author2=Olivier Lambert |author3=Stephen Louwye |year=2018 |title=A critical revision of the fossil record, stratigraphy and diversity of the Neogene seal genus Monotherium (Carnivora, Phocidae) |journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=171669 |doi=10.1098/rsos.171669 |pmid=29892365 |pmc=5990722 |bibcode=2018RSOS....571669D }}

| taxon = Monachinae

| authority = E. L. Trouessart, 1897

| subdivision_ranks = Tribes

| subdivision =

• Monachini E. L. Trouessart, 1897
• Miroungini Muizon, 1981
• Lobodontini J. E. Gray, 1869

}}

Monachinae (known colloquially as "Southern seals") is a subfamily of Phocidae whose distribution is found in the tropical, temperate and polar regions of the southern hemisphere, though in the distant past fossil representatives have been found on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean.{{cite book | last1 = Stewart | first1 = Brent | year = 2014 | chapter = Family Phocidae (Earless Seals) | editor1-last = Wilson | editor1-first = D.E.| editor2-last = Mittermeier | editor2-first = R.A. | title = Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 4 | publisher = Lynx Ediciones |location=Barcelona | pages = 120–183 |isbn = 978-84-96553-93-4}} The difference between members of this group and members of Phocinae is in monachines the hindclaws are greatly reduced in size.{{cite book | last1 = Bonner | first1 = N. | year = 1994| title = Seals and Sea Lions of the World | publisher = Blandford |location= United Kingdom | pages = 1–224 |isbn = 9780816057177}} Furthermore, all species have 34 chromosomes. There are three tribes recognized here: Monachini (monk seals), Miroungini (elephant seals), and Lobodontini (Antarctic seals and a handful of Afroamerican fossil genera).{{Cite journal |author1=Berta, A. |author2=Churchill, M. |title=Pinniped taxonomy: Review of currently recognized species and subspecies, and evidence used for their description |journal=Mammal Review |year=2012 |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=207–34 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2907.2011.00193.x}}{{cite journal | author = Berta, A. | author2 = Churchill, M. | author3 = Boessenecker, R.W. | name-list-style = amp | year = 2018 | title = The Origin and Evolutionary Biology of Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses | journal = Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences | volume = 46 | pages = 203–228 | doi = 10.1146/annurev-earth-082517-010009| bibcode = 2018AREPS..46..203B | s2cid = 135439365 | doi-access = free }} While today represented by eight extant and one recently extinct species, Monachinae had an incredibly enriched fossil diversity that went into decline soon to be replaced by southern species of sea lions and fur seals.{{cite journal | author = Yonezawa, T. | year = 2009 | title = The monophyletic origin of sea lions and fur seals (Carnivora; Otariidae) in the Southern Hemisphere | journal = Gene | volume = 441 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 89–99 | doi = 10.1016/j.gene.2009.01.022 | pmid=19254754|display-authors=etal}}