Long-necked seal

The long-necked seal is a hypothetical species of earless seals. It was first described in 1681 by Nehemiah Grew, based on a skin of unknown provenance in the museum of the Royal Society. An illustration of this specimen was published by James Parsons in 1751. In 1792, Robert Kerr gave it the scientific name Phoca mutica. In 1800, George Shaw proposed the alternate scientific name Phoca longicollis. The skin has not been relocated since then, so the existence of the species remains unconfirmed.