Cystophora
By Marchantia (Own work) Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
 Hooded seal. Source:Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU)/WoRMS/Encyclopedia of Life |
Conservation Status  |
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Scientific Classification Kingdom: Anamalia (Animals) |
Cystophora is a genus of just one species (a “monotypic” genus) within the true seal family of nineteen species: the Hooded seal (also known as Bladdernose seal).
Together with the families of Eared seals and Walruses, True seals form the group of marine mammals known as Pinnipeds.
The hooded seal derives its name from the male's ability, when mating, excited, or threatened, to close one of his nostrils, an inflate its trunk. The inflated trunk forms a crest or a hood on top of the head.
For the species details, see Hooded seal
Further Reading
- Cystophora cristata (Erxleben, 1777) Encyclopedia of Life (accessed July 18, 2010)
- Cystophora cristata, Yoo, R., 1999, Animal Diversity Web (accessed July 18, 2010)
- Hooded Seal, Seal Conservation Society (accessed July 18, 2010)
- Cystophora cristata, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (accessed July 18, 2010)
- The Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses, Marianne Riedman, University of California Press, 1991 ISBN: 0520064984
- Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, Bernd Wursig, Academic Press, 2002 ISBN: 0125513402
- Marine Mammal Research: Conservation beyond Crisis, edited by John E. Reynolds III, William F. Perrin, Randall R. Reeves, Suzanne Montgomery and Timothy J. Ragen, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005 ISBN: 0801882559
- Walker's Mammals of the World, Ronald M. Nowak, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN: 0801857899
- Hooded Seal, MarineBio.org (accessed July 18, 2010)
