Crabeater+seal

Animal: Animal Group: Description of animal group || Crabeater seal (//Lobodon carcinophagus)// Seal Crabeater seals moult during January and February, spending most of that time on the ice. || Observation Describe your animal (Colour, size, body parts) || The **Crabeater Seal**, //Lobodon carcinophagus//, is a little-known mammal. At a population of 8 to 50 million (LAWS 1973), it is perhaps the "second most numerous large species of mammal on Earth, after humans."[2] Domestic cattle are also more numerous.[3] More than one in every two seals in the world is a Crabeater Seal and the population biomass of Crabeaters is about four times that of all other pinnipeds put together [4]. It is also one of the fastest seals; a crabeater seal can swim 16 mph [5]. Crabeater seals (//Lobodon carcinophagus//) have slender bodies and long snouts. Their fur ranges from dark brown to blonde, becoming lighter in summer. They spend their entire lives in the pack-ice zone surrounding Antarctica, resting, breeding and moulting on the pack-ice, and feeding in the surrounding water.Males grow to about 2.2 m to about 2.6 m (7.26 to 8.6 ft) and weigh roughly between 200 and 300 kg (440 to 660 lbs). After molting seasons the fur of the crab eater seal is dark brown fading to blonde on its belly. These seals also have dark brown mailings along the back and sides. The fur lightens through out the year, becoming completely blonde in summer. Crabeaters have long snouts and slender bodies. They have distinctive and complex teeth. Each tooth has tubercles, or bony protuberances with spaces between them. The upper and lower jaws fit together so that when the mouth closes the teeth and the tubercles can strain krill. Females grow up to 3.6 m (142 in) in length and 500 lb (230 kg) in weight. Crabeater Seals colonized Antarctica during the late Miocene or early Pliocene (15 - 25 million years ago), at a time when the region was much warmer than today. The evolution of this strange, successful and abundant animal can be taken as a token of the bounty and continuous availability of krill. Pups are born about 1.2 metres in length and weigh between 20 and 30 kilograms. While nursing, pups grow at a rate of about 4.2 kilograms a day. They are weaned after 2-3 weeks. The seal's background colour is mainly silvery-grey when newly moulted, or golden to creamy white when the coat has faded. Older animals become progressively paler, even when freshly moulted, and may appear almost white. In younger animals, there are net-like, chocolate-brown markings and flecks on the shoulders, sides and flanks, shading into the predominantly dark hind and fore flippers and head. One of the world’s most abundant large mammals, Crabeater seals' numbers have increased enormously in the last 50 years most likely due to declining whale populations. Inhabiting the shifting pack ice which surrounds the Antarctic continent, comparatively little is known about their behavior due to the difficulty of establishing scientific field stations on the ice. Crabeaters are mostly dark grey in appearance, but in summer the coat can bleach almost to white. In general, they are lighter on the bottom (their ventral side) and darker on the top (their dorsal side). Their faces are dog-like and they have characteristic chocolate-brown markings and fleckings on the shoulders, sides and flanks. Crabeater seals spend their entire lives in the pack ice surrounding Antarctica. They rest, breed and moult on the pack ice, and feed in the surrounding water. They generally move southwards in spring, and northwards in autumn, as the pack ice gets bigger or smaller with the seasons.
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Crabeater seals are the most numerous seal species in the southern ocean. Males and females are similar in size, weighing about 400kg and reaching about 2.5m in length. || [] || [] || Describe how your animal behaves (moves, flies, runs) || [] || Where it lives || pack ice around Antarctica || What it eats How it eats || Despite its name, its diet does not include crabs. Instead, a crabeater seal's unusual multilobed teeth enable this species to sieve krill from the water. Its dentition looks like a perfect strainer, but how it operates in detail is still unknown. 98% of the Crabeater Seal's food consists of Antarctic krill, //Euphausia superba//. The seals consume over 80 million tons of krill each year. They live and reproduce in the pack ice zone around Antarctica. Crabeaters are misnamed, since they actually eat krill, not crabs, occasionally supplementing their diet with small fish and squid. Pursuing prey on shallow dives, they use rows of interlocking upper and lower teeth to form a sieve-like palate which strains krill from the water. They can consume 20-25 times their body weight in a year. In fact, the total amount of krill consumed by Crabeater seals is more than that of all the remaining baleen whales put together. Crabeater seals feed mainly on [|krill], and are able to dive to depths of up to 250m, although they usually feed around 20m from the surface. || [] || How does it have babies? How does it care for its babies? How long do they live? || They breed on the ice in spring, from late September to early November. Females give birth to a single pup which is weaned 3-4 weeks after birth. During this time the female spends the entire time on the ice with the pup. During the breeding season the female and pup are usually accompanied by a male which mates with the female when she comes into oestrous. The male plays no part in bringing up the pup, and the group disbands once the pup is weaned. During breeding season, Crabeaters are generally observed occurring in small family groups as opposed to the teeming breeding beaches of gregarious Fur seals. Not much is known about crabeaters' breeding, which occurs among the pack ice during the austral spring. Like Southern Elephant seal pups, Crabeater pups grow very quickly and are weaned within two to three weeks having gained up to 200 pounds in weight. During this period, the male patrols a sizeable territory (up to a 150 foot radius) around his mate and pup, aggressively fending off unwelcome intruders. Skirmishes are frequent with even the females becoming combative during this time. There is some evidence that Crabeaters may be monogamous, although this is rare in seals. After weaning, young Crabeater seals disperse to open waters to feed independently. || [] || What does it do during the day and night? ||  || How has it changed over time in Antarctica? || Crabeater seals have a circumpolar distribution with an estimated population of about 15 million. They are the most abundant seal species in the southern ocean, and the most numerous of all the world's larger animals apart from humans. They can move large distances through the pack-ice, due to both active movement and passive movement on drifting ice floes. They generally move southwards in spring, and northwards in autumn, with the seasonal contraction and expansion of the pack-ice. Moulting occurs in January and February. Seals spend most of their time on the ice when moulting. Leopard seals are a major predator of crabeater seals, particularly of young pups. Most adult crabeater seals have large scars as a result of unsuccessful attacks from leopard seals when they were younger. The Leopard seal is the main predator of young Crabeater seals and an important one in helping to keep populations in check. || Type in the content of your page here.
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 * Source 1: || Crabeater seal will, when close to death, leave the pack and travel far up glaciers to die. He observed Crabeater carcasses on a number of occasions, "thirty miles from the seashore and 3,000 feet (910 m) above sea-level". ||
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 * **Threats:** || They live in remote, harsh environments, the exact population size of this species is unknown. Original estimates place the population at approximately 15 million, however it is now thought that the population is much smaller. Crabeater seals migrate seasonally according to the movement of the pack ice. ||
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