Your name elephant seal received thanks to a process located above the oral cavity, which resembles a trunk. A trunk 30 cm long grows in males closer to eight years of age; in females the appendage is completely absent.
Interesting fact about the elephant seal is the property of the trunk to increase in size up to 60-80 cm during sexual arousal. Males shake their trunk-like appendages at competitors in the hope of scaring them.
Description and features of the elephant seal
About marine elephants researchers have collected a large amount of information. On photo of elephant seal resembles: the body of an animal is streamlined, the head is small in size with a trunk on which vibrissae are located (whiskers with high sensitivity), the eyeballs have the shape of a flattened oval and are painted in a dark color, the limbs are replaced by flippers that are equipped with long claws reaching 5 cm.
Elephant seals are poorly adapted to life on land, since their corpulent body prevents them from moving: one step of a large animal is only about 35 cm. Due to their clumsiness, they bask on the shore and sleep almost all the time.
Pictured is an elephant seal.
Their sleep is so deep that they even snore; during their rest, biologists even managed to measure their temperature and heart rate. One more interesting fact about elephant seals is the animal's ability to sleep underwater.
This process occurs as follows: 5-10 minutes after falling asleep rib cage expands, as a result of which the density of the body decreases somewhat and it slowly floats up.
After the body is on the surface, the nostrils open and the elephant breathes for about 3 minutes, after this time it descends back into the water column. The eyes and nostrils are kept closed during underwater recreation.
Elephant seals can dive under water and rise to the surface while sleeping.
People who encounter this animal for the first time have a question: What does an elephant seal look like?? Male elephant seals are much larger than females. If the male's body length is on average about 5-6 m, elephant seal weight- can reach 3 tons, body length of individuals feminine only 2.5 - 3 m, weight - 900 kg. This type of elephant is characterized by thick gray fur.
Elephant seals living in are slightly larger than their northern relatives - weight about 4 tons, length - 6 m, and their fur is brown. In water, animals move at fairly high speeds up to 23 km/h.
Pictured is a northern elephant seal
Elephant seal lifestyle and habitat
Elephant seals spend most of their time in their native element - water. On land, they come only for mating and molting. Their stay on the surface of the earth does not exceed 3 months.
Places, where do elephant seals live, depends on their type. Exists Northern elephant seal living on the coasts North America, And southern elephant seal whose place of residence is Antarctica.
Animals lead a solitary lifestyle, coming together only to conceive offspring. While on land, elephant seals live on beaches strewn with pebbles or stones. The animal rookery may contain more than 1000 individuals. Elephant seals are calm, even slightly phlegmatic animals.
Elephant seal feeding
Elephant seals feed on cephalopods and. According to some information, the elephant seal, which is about 5 m long, eats 50 kg. fish.
Due to his large physique, large volume blood retains a lot of air, which helps elephant seals dive to a depth of about 1400 meters in search of food.
During deep dive Under water, the activity of all important organs of an animal slows down - this process greatly reduces oxygen consumption - animals are able to retain air for up to two hours.
The elephant's skin is thick and covered with coarse, short hair. The animal has a lot of fat deposits, which are somewhat burned during the mating season, when they do not consume food at all.
IN Antarctica elephant seals They travel in the warm season in search of prey. During migration, they are able to cover a path whose length is about 4800 km.
Reproduction and lifespan of the elephant seal
Males reach sexual maturity at 3-4 years. But at this age they mate very rarely, because they are not yet strong enough to defend the right to mate from other Scythians. Males master sufficient physical strength at the age of no earlier than eight years.
When is mating season (August to October for southern elephant seals, February for gray elephant seal), animals gather in large groups, where there are from 10 to 20 females per male.
Fierce battles are waged between males for the right to own a harem in the center of the colony: males shake their short trunks, roar loudly and rush at the enemy in order to inflict as many wounds as possible with the help of sharp fangs.
Despite their large build, in a fight males can almost completely raise their body, remaining above the ground only on one tail. Weak young males are pushed to the edge of the colony, where conditions for mating females are much worse.
After establishing the owner of the harem, already pregnant females give birth to cubs that were conceived in the previous year. Pregnancy lasts a little less than a year(11 months). The body length of the newborn cub is 1.2 m, weight - 50 kg.
The cub's body is covered with soft brown fur, which sheds a month after birth. Brown fur changes to dark gray thick fur. After the birth of the offspring, the female raises and feeds it with milk for a month, and then mates again with the male.
At the end of the month, the young live on the shore for a couple of weeks, without eating anything, using up previously accumulated fat. The offspring go into the water two months after birth.
And the white ones are worst enemies for young elephant seals. Since mating elephant seals the process is quite intense (fighting, “persuading” the female); most of the cubs die due to the fact that they are simply crushed.
The lifespan of males is about 14 years, females - 18 years. This difference arises due to the fact that males receive many serious injuries during competitions, which worsens general condition health. Often the injuries are so severe that animals cannot recover from them and die.
The southern elephant (lat. Mirounga leonina) is the largest representative of the family of True seals (lat. Phocidae) on our planet. This pinniped predator is the original inhabitant of the cold regions of the Southern Hemisphere.
Even two hundred years ago, sailors described the elephant seals they saw and killed, up to 9 m in size and weighing about 5 tons. Modern zoologists do not believe in the existence of such giants, although males reaching 6.5 m and weighing more than 3.5 tons are still quite common today.
The mass extermination of these animals until the mid-twentieth century occurred mainly for the sake of their unusually durable skin and fat (blub). Up to 350 kg of fat was rendered from one elephant seal, which was used for food and for lighting homes. In 1964, the species was taken under protection and is currently not threatened, but total number the population reached approximately 750 thousand individuals.
The mammal got its name due to the presence of a leathery sac in males, reminiscent of an elephant's trunk.
Behavior
Southern elephant seals spend most of their lives in cold ocean waters. They come to the shores of Antarctica and nearby islands only during the molting and mating season.
In the ocean, these giants not only hunt and dive to great depths, but also rest and even sleep. They sleep underwater, holding their breath for up to 20 minutes. Then they wake up, take a deep breath and fall back into a pleasant slumber. On land, the sleep phase is shorter and does not exceed 10 minutes.
Elephant seals feed on stingrays, sharks, bony fish and cephalopods, but their teeth are weak. Although the fangs reach a length of 4 cm, they are used more for ritual fights than for tearing prey. Due to poorly developed molars, it is very difficult for the elephant seal to chew solid food, so its main and favorite food is cephalopods.
During hunting, the animal can dive to a depth of up to 1000 m.
It swims by rowing vigorously with its front flippers. The rear flippers serve as rudders and help maneuver through the water. Strong muscles that tightly compress the nostrils allow you to dive to great depths. This muscle reflex is so strong that the animal can suffocate under water, but it will never choke.
Molting occurs from February to mid-April. At this time, animals come out onto land in huge herds. They are located in damp meadows or peat bogs and lie in the mud for weeks until they shed their old fur and layer of epidermis. There is a terrible stench over their rookery at this time. After molting, elephant seals go back to sea for the next 4 months.
Reproduction
The mating season runs from mid-August to the end of October. The males are the first to swim to land and seize sections of the shore, declaring their rights with a loud roar.
There are constant fights for territory. Males rise on their flippers and rush at each other, inflicting deep wounds with their fangs. As a result, almost every adult elephant's skin is covered with scars. Many males die as a result of their wounds.
Before the fight, the males inflate their “trunks”, trying to scare the enemy.
Often it will swell more in a stronger fighter than in a weaker one. Some people simply drop their trunk from stress, and they admit defeat without getting into a fight. The showdown lasts for 2 weeks, after which the females swim to the rookery.
Harems are formed around the winning males. Coming onto land, the first thing females do is give birth to cubs, conceived a year ago. Babies are born covered with soft black fur, weighing from 45 to 50 kg and a body length of 125-130 cm. For a month, mothers feed them very rich milk.
During this time, the babies gain weight three times and at the end of lactation they form separate rookeries from the adults. After this, the females are again ready to reproduce.
Each male's harem consists of 20-30 females, whom he jealously protects from the encroachments of anxious competitors. Males often press to death not only the babies, but also the mothers nursing them. This fate befalls a tenth of the offspring.
After mating, the females immediately go to sea. Pregnancy lasts 11 months, of which 4 months the embryo is in the latent stage and does not develop. Severely emaciated female elephants struggle to get to feeding areas, where they actively hunt to replenish their fat reserves.
Only when fat reserves reach normal levels do the embryos in their body begin to develop again.
Female elephant seals become sexually mature in the third year of life, and males at the age of 3-7 years, depending on the population size.
Description
The body length of adult males reaches 5-6.5 m, and they weigh from 2.4 to 3.5 tons. Females are much smaller. Their body length does not exceed 3 m, and their weight is 900 kg.
The body is very muscular and has a streamlined shape. It is covered with short hair. The skin on the nape and neck is very hard and very keratinized.
The head is short and rounded. The nose and upper part of the muzzle in males are modified into a leathery sac, similar to the trunk of an elephant. The fore and hind limbs are transformed into flippers. The forelimbs are equipped with strong claws.
The lifespan of female elephant seals is about 14 years. Males in captivity live up to 20-22 years, but in natural conditions They die in fights much earlier.
Class: Mammals
Order: Pinnipeds
Family: True seals
Genus: Elephant seals
Species: Southern elephant seal
The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is an animal of the seal family (Phocidae).
The southern elephant seal is the largest carnivore on our planet. Male southern elephant seals weigh an average of 2.2 tons. up to 4t. and can reach up to 5.8 meters in length. The largest specimen among the southern elephant seals, it reached a length of 6.85 meters and weighed about 5 tons.
Interesting facts:
Southern elephant seals can remain underwater for more than twenty minutes.
The documented record for staying under water was approximately two hours. Maximum depth The depth to which southern elephant seals can dive is more than 1400 meters.
Elephant seals have a long, pendulous nose that resembles a trunk, which is why they are named that way.
The elephant spends most of its life, more than 80 percent, in the ocean
Http://malpme.ru/samye-krupnye-zhivotnye-na-zemle/
The southern elephant seal lives along the coast of Antarctica and subarctic islands. Before man landed on Antarctica, elephant seals lived further north than they do now. The largest population lives on the island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean. The southern elephant seal is also found on the Kerguelen, Heard, Macquarie Islands and the Valdez Peninsula in Argentina.
When the southern elephant seal is on land, it is found along the coast on smooth sandy beaches or small rocks. They are on land only during the breeding season and molting season, which lasts 3–5 weeks in the spring. The rest of the year is spent only at sea.
Dimorphism is observed not only in size. Males have a large trunk that increases vocalizations, used to challenge other males. The southern elephant seal's trunk is slightly smaller than that of their northern relatives, overhanging the mouth by only 10 cm, compared to 30 cm for the northern elephant seal.
Male southern elephant seals reach rookeries several weeks before females and, through vocalizations, body postures, and fighting, occupy a defined territory. The best and largest territories go to the largest and strongest males. These alpha males become the head of the harem, and with the arrival of women, it can include about 60 females. If there are more women in the harem, then the females go to the beta males. A man must remain on his territory, protecting it, so he must long time goes without food. Lack of food and aggressive clashes with males, energy consumption in the process of mating with a large number of women lead to physical exhaustion of the male body. Only males in ideal physical condition are able to defend their territory for this long time.
If this does not deter the challenger, then fights take place.
The winner takes the territory as a prize.
The shedding process involves the loss of all fur, which grows over the next 3 to 5 weeks. Apart from spending time on land to breed and molt, the southern elephant seal lives a solitary life in the waters of the southern oceans. While in the water, elephant seals rarely encounter each other and thus have no need to communicate.
While at sea, the southern elephant seal can stay underwater for two hours, but most dives last no more than 30 minutes. Surprisingly, they spend 2 - 3 minutes between dives on the surface of the water. They dive to depths of 300 – 800 m.
Southern elephant seal and man
In the past, southern elephant seals were hunted for food, skin, and oil. This activity has been stopped and the animal is now protected and is harvested in limited quantities.
Origin of the species and description
The elephant seal is a deep-sea diver, a long-distance traveler, and an animal that fasts for long periods of time. Elephant seals are extraordinary, coming together on land to give birth, mate and moult, but at sea they are solitary. To them appearance enormous demands are made in order to continue one's lineage. Research shows that elephant seals are the children of a dolphin and a platypus or a dolphin and a koala.
Video: Elephant seal
Interesting fact: These massive pinnipeds are not called elephant seals because of their size. They got their name from their inflatable faces that look like an elephant's trunk.
The history of the development of the elephant seal colony began on November 25, 1990, when less than two dozen individuals of these animals were counted in a small bay south of the Piedras Blancas lighthouse. In the spring of 1991, almost 400 seals were bred. In January 1992, the first birth occurred. The colony grew at a phenomenal pace. In 1993, about 50 cubs were born. In 1995, another 600 cubs were born. The population explosion continued. By 1996, the number of cubs born had increased to almost 1,000, and the colony extended all the way to the beaches along the coastal highway. The colony continues to expand today. In 2015, there were 10,000 elephant seals.
Appearance and features
Elephant seals are sociable animals belonging to the family Phocidae. The northern elephant seal is yellowish or gray-brown, while the southern elephant seal is blue-gray. The southern species has an extensive molting period, during which significant areas of hair and skin are lost. Males of both species reach a length of about 6.5 meters (21 ft) and a weight of about 3,530 kg (7,780 lb) and grow much larger than the females, which sometimes reach 3.5 meters and weigh 900 kg.
Elephant seals reach speeds of 23.2 km/h. The largest pinniped species of the 33 existing species is the southern elephant seal. Males can be over 6 meters in length and weigh up to 4.5 tons. Harbor seals have a wide, round face with very large eyes. The cubs are born with a black coat that sheds around the time of weaning (28 days), being replaced by a smooth, silver-gray coat. Within a year the coat will turn silver-brown.
Female elephant seals first give birth at around 4 years of age, although the range ranges from 2 to 6 years. Females are considered physically mature at age 6. Males reach sexual maturity at around 4 years of age, when the nose begins to grow. The nose is a secondary sexual characteristic, like a man's beard, and can reach an astonishing length of half a meter. Males reach physical maturity at about 9 years of age. The main breeding age is 9-12 years. Northern elephant seals live on average 9 years, while southern ones live from 20 to 22 years.
Humans shed hair and skin all the time, but elephant seals go through a catastrophic molt, in which the entire layer of epidermis with the hairs attached sticks together at one point in time. The reason for this sudden molting is that at sea they spend most of their time in cold, deep water. During the dive process, blood moves away from the skin. This helps them conserve energy and not lose body heat. Animals come to land while molting so that blood can circulate through the skin to help grow a new layer of epidermis and hair.
Where does the elephant seal live?
There are two types of elephant seals:
- northern;
- southern.
Northern elephant seals are found from northern Baja California to the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. During the breeding season, they live on beaches on offshore islands and in a few remote locations on the mainland. During the rest of the year, with the exception of molting periods, elephant seals live far from shore (up to 8,000 km), usually descending to depths of more than 1,500 meters below the ocean surface.
Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) live in sub-Antarctic and cold Antarctic waters. They are distributed throughout and on most of the sub-Antarctic islands. The population is concentrated on the Antipodes Islands and Campbell Island. In winter they often visit Auckland, Antipodes and Snares Islands, less frequently Chatham Islands and sometimes various mainland areas. Sometimes southern elephant seals visit local coastlines mainland
On the mainland, they can remain in the area for several months, giving people the opportunity to observe animals that normally live in sub-Antarctic waters. The grace and speed of such large marine mammals can be an impressive sight, and young seals can be very playful.
Interesting fact: Unlike most other marine mammals (such as dugongs), elephant seals are not entirely aquatic: they emerge from the water to rest, molt, mate, and give birth to their young.
What does an elephant seal eat?
Elephant seals - . Southern elephant seals are open ocean and spend most of their time at sea. They feed on fish, squid or other cephalopods found in Antarctic waters. They come ashore only to breed and molt. The rest of the year is spent feeding in the sea, where they rest by swimming on the surface and diving in search of large fish and while at sea they are often taken far from their breeding grounds and can travel very long distances between times spent on land .
It is believed that their females and males feed on different prey. The female diet mainly consists of squid, while the male diet is more varied, consisting of small rays and other bottom-dwelling fish. In search of food, males travel along the continental shelf to the Gulf of Alaska. Females tend to head north and west into the more open ocean. The elephant seal makes this migration twice a year, also returning to the rookery.
Elephant seals migrate in search of food, remain at sea for months, and often dive deep in search of food. In winter, they return to their rookeries to breed and give birth. Although male and female elephant seals spend time at sea, their migration routes and feeding habits differ: males follow a more consistent route, hunting along the continental shelf and foraging on the ocean floor, while females vary their routes in search of moving prey and They hunt more in the open ocean. Lacking echolocation, elephant seals use their vision and their whiskers to sense nearby movement.
Features of character and lifestyle
Elephant seals come ashore and form colonies for just a few months each year to give birth, breed, and molt. During the rest of the year, the colonies disperse and individuals spend most of their time searching for food, which involves swimming thousands of miles and diving to great depths. While elephant seals are at sea in search of food, they dive to incredible depths.
They usually dive to a depth of about 1500 meters. Average duration The dive is 20 minutes, but they can dive for an hour or longer. When elephant seals come to the surface, they spend only 2-4 minutes on land before diving back into the water - and continue this diving procedure 24 hours a day.
On land, elephant seals often remain without water for long periods of time. To avoid dehydration, their kidneys may produce concentrated urine, which contains more waste and less actual water in each drop. The rookery is a very noisy place during the breeding season as males vocalize, babies call to feed, and females squabble with each other over prime location and babies. Grunts, snorts, burps, whimpers, creaks, squeals and male roars combine to create a symphony of elephant seal sound.
Social structure and reproduction
Southern elephant seals, like northern elephant seals, breed and molt on land, but winter at sea, possibly near pack ice. Southern elephant seals breed on land but spend the winter in the cold waters of Antarctica around Antarctic ice. The northern species does not migrate during the breeding process. When breeding season arrives, male elephant seals define and defend territories and become aggressive towards each other.
They collect a harem of 40 to 50 females, which are much smaller than their huge partners. Males fight each other for mating dominance. Some encounters end in roars and aggressive posturing, but many others turn into brutal and bloody battles.
The breeding season begins at the end of November. Females begin to arrive in mid-December and continue to arrive until mid-February. The first birth occurs around Christmas, but most births usually occur in the last two weeks of January. Females remain on the beach for about five weeks after coming ashore. Surprisingly, males stay on the beach for up to 100 days.
When feeding with milk, females do not eat - both mother and child live off the energy accumulated in sufficient reserves of her fat. Both males and females lose about 1/3 of their weight during the breeding season. Females give birth to one cub each year after an 11-month pregnancy.
Interesting fact: When a female gives birth, the milk she produces has about 12% fat. Two weeks later, this number increases to more than 50%, giving the liquid a pudding-like consistency. For comparison, cow's milk contains only 3.5% fat.
Natural enemies of elephant seals
Great southern elephant seals have few enemies, including:
- , which can hunt young and old seals;
- leopard seals, which sometimes attack and kill pups;
- some large sharks.
Elephant seals can also be considered enemies of members of their population during breeding. Elephant seals form harems in which the dominant, or alpha, male is surrounded by a group of females. On the periphery of the harem, beta males wait in hopes of an opportunity to mate. They help the alpha male hold off less dominant males. Male-male wrestling can be a bloody affair, with males getting to their feet and slamming themselves against each other, slashing with large canine teeth.
Elephant seals use their teeth during combat to rip the necks of their opponents. Large males can be severely injured from fighting with other males during the breeding season. Fights between dominant males and challengers can be long, bloody and extremely brutal, with the loser often suffering serious injuries. However, not all confrontations end in battle. Sometimes all they have to do is rear up on their hind legs, throw back their heads, boast about the size of their noses and roar their threats to intimidate most opponents. But when battles occur, it rarely comes to death.
Population and species status
Both species of elephant seals were hunted for their blubber and were almost wiped out in the 19th century. However, under legal protection their numbers are gradually increasing and their survival is no longer threatened. In the 1880s, northern elephant seals were thought to be extinct because both species were hunted by coastal whalers for their blubber, which is second in quality only to that of the sperm whale. A small group of 20 to 100 elephant seals that were bred on Guadalupe Island, off Baja California, survived the devastating results of the seal hunt.
Protected first by Mexico and then by Mexico, they are constantly expanding their population. Protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, they are expanding their range from outlying islands and are now colonizing isolated mainland beaches such as Piedras Blancas, in southern Big Sur, near San Simeon. The overall population estimate for elephant seals in 1999 was about 150,000.
Interesting fact: Elephant seals are wild animals and should not be approached. They are unpredictable and can cause great harm to humans, especially during the breeding season. Human intervention can force seals to use up precious energy needed to survive. Cubs can be separated from their mothers, often resulting in their death. The National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the Marine Mammal Protection Act, recommends a safe viewing distance of 15 to 30 meters.
Elephant seal– animal. They are large and bulky on land, but excellent in the water: they can dive to depths of 2 kilometers and hold their breath underwater for up to 2 hours. Elephant seals move throughout the ocean and can swim vast distances in search of food. They fight for a place in the sun, but only the bravest achieve their goal.
Elephant seals are real giants; they are the largest carnivores. They belong to real seals and are somewhat similar to hooded seals, although they are significantly larger in size. In nature, there are 2 types of elephant seals: southern and northern.
Since the southern elephant seal is quite impressive in size, most people think that this is why the animal is called an elephant. In fact, their name comes from a fleshy growth on the nose that resembles a trunk, although the size of such a “trunk” does not exceed 10 centimeters. Females do not have such a distinctive feature.
Southern elephant seals
The elephant seal can reach 5 meters in length and weigh up to 2.5 tons. True, females are much smaller - only up to 3 meters, weighing less than a ton. The southern elephant seal differs from other types of seals in its large amount of subcutaneous fat - more than 35%. The growth on the nose is used as an element during mating fights. The animal's skin is rough and thick, covered with thick fur. Young animals are silver-gray in color, adults are brown.
The habitat of this subspecies is the subantarctic islands and the shores of Patagonia. Individuals rarely seen alone, their favorite pastime is to form huge rookeries on pebble beaches.
Interesting facts:
- The southern elephant seal is larger than its northern neighbor - some individuals can reach 4 tons.
- They can remain in water for a long time - more than 20 minutes. The documented record for an animal staying under water without a break was 2 hours.
- The maximum depth to which animals dive is almost 1.5 kilometers.
- They spend most of their lives in the ocean. They come to land during the breeding and molting season, for 3-5 weeks a year.
Females and males differ in the presence of a trunk and weight. At the same time, they have a lot in common: short front fins, a similar body type, a strong rear fin. Scars are often observed around the neck of animals, which they receive in battles during mating.
Features of life
Southern elephants feed on crabs, fish and shrimp. Males obtain food for themselves in the waters of the continental shelf, and females go out to the open sea.
Reproduction:
- During the breeding and molting season, southern elephant seals most often arrive at the place where they were born. Several weeks before the females leave the water, the males fight for territory. Moreover, each of them must conquer and protect a certain rookery for a long time. He goes without food, which leaves him exhausted by the end of the mating period. Therefore, only the strongest alpha males remain, each of whom mates with dozens of females.
- Most females stay at the rookery pregnant, give birth to offspring here, and some time after that they are again ready to mate. As a rule, one cub is born. In rare cases there may be two.
- A newborn southern elephant seal is about a meter long and weighs 25-50 kg. The mother stays with the baby for 23 days, after which mating occurs and the baby is weaned. At this time he already weighs about 120 kg.
- After this, the female goes into the ocean, and the young individuals unite in groups. For several weeks they live by using subcutaneous fat. In the end, they begin their journey to the ocean hungry. They learn to swim and get their own food on their own.
- At 3 years of age, females reach sexual maturity, and by 6 years of age they participate in the annual mating cycle. Males begin to compete for women only at 10 years of age. Pregnancy lasts 11 months, with a life expectancy of about 20 years.
Northern elephant seal
This subspecies lives on the west coast of America, where it is considered a tourist attraction. Local residents value them because they attract tourists in large numbers. Now elephant seals are protected by law. Until recently, they were exterminated so en masse that the species has almost disappeared. It was even considered extinct for some time. However, it turned out that only one colony survived, which lived on the Mexican island of Guadalupe. After the hunting ban, the number of individuals increased sharply. Now the rate of population increase is up to 15% annually. Today the species is no longer under serious threat of extinction.
In their nature Killer whales and sharks are considered enemies. During the rutting season, males die from fatal wounds. At the same time, a large number of young animals die under the carcasses of adult individuals.
The northern elephant seal differs from the southern elephant seal in that sexual dimorphism is less pronounced. However, the trunk of males is larger - it reaches 30 centimeters in length.
The elephant seal is a very interesting animal that refers to seals. The southern subspecies is much larger, since the northern one was exterminated for a long time, which almost led to the complete extinction of the animal. The southern representative of the species is slightly larger than the northern one and is the largest carnivorous mammal.
