Southern elephant seal Temporal range: Pleistocene-recent
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Male (bull) | |
Females (cows) and pups | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Clade: | Pinnipedia |
Family: | Phocidae |
Genus: | Mirounga |
Species: | M. leonina
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Binomial name | |
Mirounga leonina | |
Southern elephant seal range | |
Synonyms | |
Phoca leonina Linnaeus, 1758 |
The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season. 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]
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