Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Carnivora > Phocidae > Leptonychotes > Leptonychotes weddellii

Leptonychotes weddellii (Weddell Seal)

Synonyms: Leptonychotes weddelli; Leptonyx weddellii; Ogmorhinus weddelli; Otaria weddellii

Wikipedia Abstract

The Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddellii, is a relatively large and abundant true seal (family: Phocidae) with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. Weddell seals have the most southerly distribution of any mammal, with a habitat that extends as far south as McMurdo Sound (at 77°S). It is the only species in the genus Leptonychotes, and the only member of the Antarctic tribe of lobodontine seals to prefer in-shore habitats on shore-fast ice over free-floating pack ice. Genetic evidence suggests that Weddell seal population numbers may have increased during the Pleistocene. Because of its abundance, relative accessibility, and ease of approach by humans, it is the best-studied of the Antarctic seals. An estimated 800,000 individuals remain today. A genetic survey did not detec
View Wikipedia Record: Leptonychotes weddellii

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
6
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
28
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 12.27
EDGE Score: 2.59
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Gestation [2]  10 months 4 days
Litter Size [2]  1
Litters / Year [4]  1
Maximum Longevity [4]  25 years
Snout to Vent Length [4]  9.02 feet (275 cm)
Water Biome [1]  Pelagic, Coastal
Weaning [2]  40 days
Adult Weight [2]  936.97 lbs (425.00 kg)
Birth Weight [2]  63.934 lbs (29.00 kg)
Diet [3]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Piscivore
Diet - Fish [3]  60 %
Diet - Invertibrates [3]  40 %
Forages - Marine [3]  100 %
Female Maturity [2]  3 years 9 months
Male Maturity [2]  4 years 6 months

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Bañados del Este Wetland Reserve 986054 Uruguay  
Macquarie Island Nature Reserve Ia 233540 Tasmania, Australia  
Palmer LTER Site Long Term Ecological Research   Antarctica    
Tierra Del Fuego National Park II 172861 Argentina

Prey / Diet

Prey / Diet Overlap

Predators

Macronectes giganteus (Southern Giant Petrel)[5]
Stercorarius maccormicki (South Polar Skua)[5]

Consumers

Range Map

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 2de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
♦ 3Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 4Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 5Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 6CephBase - Cephalopod (Octopus, Squid, Cuttlefish and Nautilus) Database
♦ 7DIET OF THE ANTARCTIC TOOTHFISH (DISSOSTICHUS MAWSONI) FROM THE ROSS SEA, ANTARCTICA (SUBAREA 88.1), J.M. Fenaughty, D.W. Stevens, S.M. Hanchet, CCAMLR Science, Vol. 10 (2003): 113–123
♦ 8The evolution of neutrally buoyant notothenioid fishes: Their specializations and potential interactions in the Antarctic marine food web, J.T. Eastman, Antarctic Nutrient Cycles and Food Webs, Springer-Verlag 1985
♦ 9Species Interactions of Australia Database, Atlas of Living Australia, Version ala-csv-2012-11-19
♦ 10Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0