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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
leopard
seal |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Pinnipedia |
| FAMILY: |
Phocidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Hydrurga
leptonx |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Leopard
seals have huge heads with enormous jaws and a spotted
coat |
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| SIZE: |
May
reach lengths of 3.6 m (11.8 ft.) |
| FEMALE |
Females
are larger than males |
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| WEIGHT: |
Up
to 450 kg (992 lb.) |
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| DIET: |
Diet
includes mostly krill (a shrimp-like crustacean),
cephalopods, fishes, seals (mainly crabeater seals),
seabirds, and penguins (mainly Adélie penguins) |
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| GESTATION: |
Approximately
11 months; with about 1.6 months delayed implantation |
| ESTRAL
PERIOD |
Typically
at the end of lactation |
| NURSING
DURATION |
Approximately
30 days (wean) |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
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| MALE |
2-7
years |
| FEMALE |
4-6 years |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
26 or more years |
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| RANGE: |
Live
in and around the Antarctic |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Lower
Risk/least concern |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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| 1. |
Leopard
seals belong to the scientific order Pinnipedia,
which includes seals, sea lions, and walruses. |
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| 2. |
Seals
differ from sea lions in a number of ways, including
having no visible earflaps. |
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| 3. |
Antarctic
seals tend to have longer, more pointed foreflippers
than northern phocids. |
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| 4. |
The
leopard seal is named for its spotted coat pattern. |
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| 5. |
Leopard
seals have uniquely shaped cheek teeth that allow
them to strain krill out of seawater. |
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| 6. |
An
impressive hunter, a hungry leopard seal may burst
through a spot of ice near a penguin rookery in
an attempt to grasp a penguin chick above. |
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| 7. |
It
may take as little as 4-7 minutes for a leopard
seal to consume an Adélie penguin. |
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| Antarctic
seals, including the crabeater, leopard, Weddell,
Ross, southern elephant, and Antarctic fur seals,
are protected by the Convention for the Conservation
of Antarctic Seals. |
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| |
|
|
| Bonner,
N. Seals and Sea Lions of the World. New
York. Facts on File, Inc. 2004. |
|
| Byrum,
J. Pinnipeds From Pole to Pole: Seals, Sea Lions
and Walruses. SeaWorld Education Department
Publication. San Diego. SeaWorld, Inc. 2000. |
|
|
Jefferson,
T.J. Leatherwood, S. and M.A. Webber. FAO Species
Identification Guide. Marine Mammals of the World.
Rome. FAO, 1993.
|
|
| Nowak,
Ronald M. (ed.). Walker's Marine Mammals of the
World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
2003. |
|
| Parker,
S. (ed.). Grizmek's Encyclopedia of Mammals.
Vol. IV. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.,
1990. |
|
| Reeves,
R. R., Stewart, B.S., Clapman, P.J., and J.A. Powell
(Peter Folkens illustrator). National Audubon
Society: Guide to Marine Mammals of the World.
New York: Random House, 2002. |
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| Reeves,
R.R., Stewart, B.S. and S. Stephen. The Sierra
Club Handbook of Seals and Sirenians. San Francisco:
Sierra Club Books, 1992. |
|
| Ridgway,
S.H. and R.J. Harrison (Eds). Handbook of Marine
Mammals: Volume 2: Seals. London. Academic Press,
1981. |
|
| Riedman,
M. The Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses.
Berkeley and Los Angeles. University of California
Press. 1990. |
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