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Growth of female southern elephant seals Mirounga leoninaat Macquarie Island

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 16:42 authored by Bell, CM, Burton, HR, Mary-Anne LeaMary-Anne Lea, Mark HindellMark Hindell
Body growth of 137 female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) over 1 year of age was investigated at subantarctic Macquarie Island. An asymptotic straight line, snout-tail body length of 2.57±0.03 m was estimated to be attained at 9years of age, using a three-parameter Gompertz equation. A significant increase of approximately 0.1 m (5%) in mean body length of females between 1 and 10 years of age was estimated to have occurred between the 1950-1960s and 1990s at Macquarie Island. This is consistent with a reduction in both the rate of population decline and the age of onset of sexual maturity. Age determination using dental cementum layers and the importance of standardised measurements in pinniped growth studies are discussed. © Springer-Verlag 2005.

History

Publication title

Polar Biology

Volume

28

Issue

5

Pagination

395-401

ISSN

0722-4060

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Springer

Place of publication

USA

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Climate variability (excl. social impacts)

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