Acrophoca
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Acrophoca longirostris Muizon, 1981 |
Acrophoca longirostris is an extinct species of pinniped whose fossils have been discovered in Peru and Chile.
The 1.5 m (5 ft) long creature was not as well-adapted to swimming as its descendants, possessing less developed flippers and a less streamlined neck, and spent a lot of time near the coast. Acrophoca was probably a fish eater. Its fossils have been found alongside those of the marine sloth Thalassocnus and tusked cetacean Odobenocetops, as well as modern animals such as bottle-nosed dolphins, gannets and cormorants. Acrophoca is thought to have been the ancestor of the modern leopard seal.
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