The world’s largest and heaviest living carnivore is not a big cat, a bear or a wolf: it’s the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina). Bulls of this species can be 5 metres long and can weigh up to 3,500kg. The Cape fur seal, meanwhile, can grow to 3.9 metres and weigh up to 360kg. A large African lion, by comparison, weighs 250kg.
So you might think that the ancient ancestors of these and other large seals would leave ample evidence of their presence in the fossil record. That’s partly true; there is an extensive global body fossil record for seals. But, until now, there’s been no documented evidence of fossilised seal traces – the tell-tale signs of these big animals dragging their flippers while hauling themselves along ancient beaches.
