A new seal species, ancestor to today's monk seals, was discovered by fossil researchers in N. Zealand, changing the current theory that seals originate from the northern hemisphere. It was named Eomonachus belegaerensis (dawn monk seal from Belegaer - the sea west of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings). It weighed approximately 200-250kg, measured 2.5 metres in length, and lived in the waters of N. Zealand around 3 million years ago.