Common Seal vs Epaulard

Phoca vitulina compared with Orcinus orca

Key Differences

• Common Seal is Near Threatened while Epaulard is Data Deficient.
• Epaulard is 67.5x heavier than Common Seal.
• Epaulard lives longer (50 years vs 30 years).

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Seal	Epaulard
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (cordados)	Chordata (cordados)
Class same	Mammalia (mamíferos)	Mammalia (mamíferos)
Order	Pinnipedia (Seals & Sea Lions)	Cetacea (Whales & Dolphins)
Family	Phocidae (True Seals)	Delphinidae (Oceanic Dolphins)
Genus	Phoca (Harbor Seals)	Orcinus (Orcas)
Species	Phoca vitulina	Orcinus orca

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Seal and Epaulard share a common ancestor at the Class level: Mammalia. (mamíferos)

Conservation Status

Common Seal

NT — Near Threatened

Population: ~500.0K

Trend: Stable →

Epaulard

DD — Data Deficient

Population: ~50.0K

Trend: Unknown ?

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Seal	Epaulard
Diet	Carnivore	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	30 years	50 years
Average Length	1.7 m	8.0 m
Average Weight	80.0 kg	5.4 t

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Seal

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Found across Europe (7 countries) and North America (United States). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Epaulard

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 11 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (4 countries), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela).

Common Seal

O pinípede de distribuição mais ampla, a foca-comum (Phoca vitulina) habita as costas temperadas e subárticas do Atlântico Norte e do Pacífico Norte. Os adultos atingem até 130 kg e passam tempo aproximadamente igual no mar caçando peixes, lulas e crustáceos e descansando em praias ou rochas. Seus grandes e expressivos olhos são adaptados para a visão subaquática em pouca luz. A foca-comum é uma fonte de alimento fundamental para orcas, tubarões e ursos-polares.

Epaulard

O maior membro da família dos golfinhos, as orcas (Orcinus orca) podem atingir até 9 metros de comprimento e 6 toneladas, sendo encontradas em todos os oceanos, do Ártico ao Antártico. Predadores de topo que vivem em grupos matrilineares com dialetos distintos, estratégias de caça e tradições culturais que diferem entre populações. Algumas populações se especializam em peixes, outras em mamíferos marinhos. Sem predadores naturais, as orcas ocupam o topo de todas as cadeias alimentares marinhas que habitam.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden