Monday, November 12, 2012
Physical Description
The northern elephant seal is generally brown in color although there can be variations. Males are usually a darker brown while females are a light tan color. Hair is slim on males and completely absent on females for a short time after shedding. Newborns have black hair until they shed the black coat and replace it with a lighter one. All adults and youngsters display a darker pigment on the dorsal side and lighter pigment ventrally. Elephant seals have two lobed hind flippers. Males are known for their inflated proboscics on their face. This is absent in famales and is larger compared to the southern elephant seals. Young males develop this at 2 years of age but it's not fully developed until it's 8th year of maturity. These mammals are among the largest group of aquatic carnivores in the Northern Hemisphere. Females typically weigh 600 to 900 kg and males which outweigh females by 3 to 10 times can top at 2300 kg. Females reach a length of 3.1 m on average and males are usually 4 to 5 m. Newborns generally weigh about 47 kg at birth. They weigh about 147 kg and measure between 1.5 m between 24 and 28 days old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-cC7oY1T9E (Birth)
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