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Ringed seal
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{{Short description|Species of carnivore}} {{Speciesbox | name = Ringed seal | image = Pusa hispida hispida NOAA 1.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn|author=Lowry, L.|date=2016|title=''Pusa hispida''|volume=2016|page=e.T41672A45231341|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T41672A45231341.en|access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref> | status2 = G5 | status2_system = TNC | status2_ref = <ref name="NatureServe">{{cite web|title=Pusa hispida |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101700/Pusa_hispida|website=[[NatureServe]] Explorer|access-date=17 April 2024}}</ref> | genus = Pusa | species = hispida | authority = ([[Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber|Schreber]], 1775) | range_map = Pusa hispida map.svg | synonyms = {{center|''Phoca hispida''}} }} The '''ringed seal''' ('''''Pusa hispida''''') is a small [[earless seal]] species found in [[Arctic]] and [[sub-Arctic]] regions. Its common name is derived from a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light gray rings. The ringed seal is the most abundant and wide-ranging [[ice seal]] in the [[Northern Hemisphere]]; they can be found throughout the [[Arctic Ocean]], into the [[Bering Sea]] and [[Okhotsk Sea]] as far south as the northern coast of [[Japan]] in the [[Pacific]], and throughout the [[North Atlantic]] coasts of [[Greenland]] and [[Scandinavia]] as far south as [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]]. Two freshwater subspecies live in [[northern Europe]]. They are the smallest members of the seal family found in these regions, averaging {{convert|1.5|m|feet|0|abbr=}} in length.<ref name="NOAA" /> The average lifespan of a ringed seal is 40 years. They have a solitary lifestyle, and their diet consists mostly of [[Arctic cod]] and [[plankton]]ic [[crustacean]]s. They are a primary prey of [[polar bear]]s β which are their primary predator β and [[killer whale]]s, and have long been a component of the diet of [[indigenous people of the Arctic]]. Recently, the biggest threat to ringed seals has been the [[Climate change in the Arctic|changing temperature in the Arctic]] and the detrimental changes to sea ice that follow. Declines in [[snowpack]] and [[sea ice]] due to increasing ocean temperatures and atmospheric temperatures poses a threat to their survival. However, some projections indicate that the extinction of their predators due to warming may ultimately allow ringed seal numbers to thrive. <ref>{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}</ref>
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