Leopard seal

Leopard seal; Temporal range: Early Pliocene – Recent
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Parvorder:	Pinnipedia
Family:	Phocidae
Subfamily:	Monachinae
Tribe:	Lobodontini
Genus:	; Gistel, 1848
Species:	H. leptonyx
Binomial name
	Hydrurga leptonyx; (Blainville, 1820)
	Hydrurga leptonyx range map
Synonyms
	List Phoca leptonyx de Blainville, 1820 (basionym) ; Stenorhynchus leptonyx (Lesson, 1827) ; Phoca Homei (Lesson, 1828) ; Phoca leptonix (McMurtrie, 1831) ; Stenorhincus Leptonyx (C. H. Smith, 1842) ; Stenorynchus leptonyx (Lesson, 1842) ; Ogmorhinus leptonyx (J. A. Allen, 1880) ; Hydrurga leptonyx (J. A. Allen, 1905) ; Hydrurga leptonyz (Wozencraft, 2005) ;

The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard,^[5] is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is a top order predator, feeding on a wide range of prey including cephalopods, other pinnipeds, krill, fish, and birds, particularly penguins, its only natural predator being the orca.^[6] It is the only species in the genus Hydrurga. Its closest relatives are the Ross seal, the crabeater seal and the Weddell seal, which are all Antarctic seals of the tribe Lobodontini.

^ Wilson, Don E.; Seeder, Dee Ann M., eds. (2005). "Species: Hydrurga leptonyx". Mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0.
^ Hückstädt, L. (2015). "Hydrurga leptonyx". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T10340A45226422. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T10340A45226422.en. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
^ "Hydrurga leptonyx (de Blainville, 1820) Leopard Seal". mammaldiversity.org. The MDD Team. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
^ Hydrurga Gistl, 1848. Retrieved through: Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera.
^ "Leopard seal". Encyclopedia Britannica. 1998.
^ Cite error: The named reference Aus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).