Southern elephant seal

Southern elephant seal; Temporal range: Pleistocene-recent
	Male (bull)
	Females (cows) and pups
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
	CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Clade:	Pinnipedia
Family:	Phocidae
Genus:	Mirounga
Species:	M. leonina
Binomial name
	Mirounga leonina; (Linnaeus, 1758)
	Southern elephant seal range
Synonyms
	Phoca leonina Linnaeus, 1758; Macrorhinus leoninus (Linn.); Macrorhinus elephantinus

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]

^ Hofmeyr, G.J.G. (2015). "Mirounga leonina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T13583A45227247. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T13583A45227247.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
^ Linnæus, Carl (1758). Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I (in Latin) (10th ed.). Holmiæ: Laurentius Salvius. pp. 37–38. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
^ For Macrorhinus leoninus see for instance: Flower, William Henry (1881). "On the Elephant Seal, Macrorhinus leoninus (Linn.)". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1881: 145–162. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
^ For Macrorhinus elephantinus see for instance: Museum Umlauff (1905). Der See-Elefant (Macrorhinus elephantinus) des Museum Umlauff Hamburg: Schilderung seiner Lebensweise und wissenschaftliche Beschreibung (in German). Hamburg: A. Friedländer. OCLC 50815427. and Distant, William Lucas (September 1899). "The "Sea-Elephant" (Macrorhinus elephantinus)". The Zoologist. 4th series, vol 3 (699): 385/7.
^ "Northern Elephant Seal". The Marine Mammal Center. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
^ Fay, Francis H. (24 May 1985). "Odobenus rosmarus". Mammalian Species (238): 1–7. doi:10.2307/3503810. ISSN 0076-3519. JSTOR 3503810.
^ "Southern Elephant Seal". Oceana. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
^ Cite error: The named reference Wood was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[iucn_status_19_November_2021-1] Hofmeyr, G.J.G. (2015). "Mirounga leonina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T13583A45227247. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T13583A45227247.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.

[2] "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

[Linnaeus1758-3] Linnæus, Carl (1758). Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I (in Latin) (10th ed.). Holmiæ: Laurentius Salvius. pp. 37–38. Retrieved 23 November 2012.

[MacrorhinusLeoninus-4] For Macrorhinus leoninus see for instance: Flower, William Henry (1881). "On the Elephant Seal, Macrorhinus leoninus (Linn.)". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1881: 145–162. Retrieved 14 May 2020.

[MacrorhinusElephantinus-5] For Macrorhinus elephantinus see for instance: Museum Umlauff (1905). Der See-Elefant (Macrorhinus elephantinus) des Museum Umlauff Hamburg: Schilderung seiner Lebensweise und wissenschaftliche Beschreibung (in German). Hamburg: A. Friedländer. OCLC 50815427. and Distant, William Lucas (September 1899). "The "Sea-Elephant" (Macrorhinus elephantinus)". The Zoologist. 4th series, vol 3 (699): 385/7.

[6] "Northern Elephant Seal". The Marine Mammal Center. Retrieved 24 November 2017.

[7] Fay, Francis H. (24 May 1985). "Odobenus rosmarus". Mammalian Species (238): 1–7. doi:10.2307/3503810. ISSN 0076-3519. JSTOR 3503810.

[8] "Southern Elephant Seal". Oceana. Retrieved 23 November 2017.

[Wood-9] Cite error: The named reference Wood was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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