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The northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) is one of two species of elephant seal (the other is the southern elephant seal). It is a member of the family Phocidae (true seals). Elephant seals derive their name from their great size and from the male's large proboscis, which is used in making extraordinarily loud roaring noises ...
Northern elephant seal bulls reach a length of 4.3 to 4.8 m (14 to 16 ft) and the heaviest weigh about 2,500 kg (5,500 lb). [15] [16] The northern and southern elephant seal can be distinguished by various external features. On average, the southern elephant seal tends to be larger than the northern species. [12]
Super weaner. A juvenile northern elephant seal during its molt. A super weaner (also super-weaner or superweaner) is an exceptionally large elephant seal at weaning age. Super weaners may reach their large sizes by stealing milk from nursing female elephant seals or by being adopted by an additional mother elephant seal.
Cal Poly researchers tag 10 seal pups to examine migration habits. Elephant seals are migratory, with the adults swimming north along the coastline as far as Alaska and out into the northern ...
A bull southern elephant seal is about 40% heavier than a male northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris), which is nearly twice the weight of a male walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), [6] [7] or 6–7 times heavier than the largest living mostly terrestrial carnivorans, the Kodiak bear and the polar bear. [8] [9]
Overhunting pushed the northern elephant seal to the brink of extinction by the late 19th century. Although they have made a comeback, the genetic variation within the population remains very low. A classic example of a population bottleneck is that of the northern elephant seal, whose population fell to about 30 in the 1890s. Although it now ...
Adult phocids vary from 1.17 m (3.8 ft) in length and 45 kg (99 lb) in weight in the ringed seal to 5.8 m (19 ft) and 4,000 kg (8,800 lb) in the southern elephant seal, which is the largest member of the order Carnivora.
The skull of the leopard seal. The leopard seal has a distinctively long and muscular body shape when compared to other seals. The overall length of adults is 2.4–3.5 m (7.9–11.5 ft) and their weight is in the range 200 to 600 kilograms (440 to 1,320 lb), making them the same length as the northern walrus but usually less than half the weight.