Common Seal vs Green Sea Turtle

Phoca vitulina compared with Chelonia mydas

Key Differences

Common Seal is Near Threatened while Green Sea Turtle is Endangered.
Common Seal is carnivore while Green Sea Turtle is herbivore.
Green Sea Turtle is 2.5x heavier than Common Seal.
Green Sea Turtle lives longer (80 years vs 30 years).

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Seal	Green Sea Turtle
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (cordados)	Chordata (cordados)
Class	Mammalia (mamíferos)	Reptilia (réptil)
Order	Pinnipedia (Seals & Sea Lions)	Testudines (Tartaruga)
Family	Phocidae (True Seals)	Cheloniidae (Sea Turtles)
Genus	Phoca (Harbor Seals)	Chelonia (Green Sea Turtles)
Species	Phoca vitulina	Chelonia mydas

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Seal and Green Sea Turtle share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (cordados)

View Phylum: Chordata

Conservation Status

Common Seal

NT — Near Threatened

Population: ~500.0K

Trend: Stable →

Green Sea Turtle

EN — Endangered

Population: ~85.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Seal	Green Sea Turtle
Diet	Carnivore	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	30 years	80 years
Average Length	1.7 m	1.2 m
Average Weight	80.0 kg	200.0 kg

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.

Green Sea Turtle

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 8 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Indonesia, and Mexico. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

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.