Own name sea \u200b\u200bElephant got due to the above oral cavity A process that resembles a trunk. The trunk in length is 30 cm. It grows in males closer to eight years of life, the females are completely absent.
An interesting fact about the sea elephant is a trunk property to increase in size up to 60-80 cm. During sexual excitation. The males are shaking with trunk processes to competitors in the hope of scaring them.
Description and Features of the Marine Elephant
Pro marine elephans Researchers collected a large number of information. On the Photo of marine elephant Reminds: The body of the animal streamlined shape, the head of small sizes with a trunk on which the Vibrisians are located (mustache with high sensitivity), the eyeballs have the shape of the shiny oval and are painted in a dark color, the limbs are replaced by flippers that are equipped with long 5 cm. Clamps.
Sea elephants are poorly adapted to life on land, as the fat body prevents them from moving: one step of a large animal is only about 35 cm. Because of his hardness, they warmly warm on the shore and sleep.
In the photo of sea elephant
Their sleep is so strong that they even publish snoring, biologists during their rest managed to even measure the temperature and frequency of heartbeat. Another one interesting fact About marine elephants is the ability of animals to sleep under water.
This process occurs as follows: 5-10 minutes after falling asleep, the chest expands, as a result of which the body density decreases somewhat and it pops slowly.
After the body turns out to be on the surface of the nostrils open and the elephant breathes about 3 minutes, after this time, it goes back into the thickness of the water. Eyes and nostrils during underwater recreation are in a closed position.
Sea elephant during sleep can dive under water and pop up
People who are first faced with this animal, the question arises: What looks like a sea elephant? Males sea Elephants Much larger females. If the length of the male body is on average about 5-6 m, the weight of the marine elephant - It can reach 3 tons, the length of the body of the female family of only 2.5 - 3 m, the weight is 900 kg. For this type of elephants, characteristic gray thick fur.
Sea elephants living in have a little big sizes Its northern congor - the weight of about 4 tons, length is 6 m, and the fur is painted in a brown color. In water, animals move with quite high speed up to 23 km / h.
In the photo Northern Sea Elephant
Lifestyle and the habitat of the marine elephant
Sea elephants are carried out most of the time in their native elements - water. On land, they are chosen only for mating and molting. The time for their location on the surface of the Earth does not exceed 3 months.
Places where marine elephants livedepends on their species. Exists Northern Marine Elephantcoastal North America, I. southern Sea Elephant The place of residence of which is Antarctic.
Animals lead single image Life, gather together only to conceive offspring. During his stay on land, sea elephants live on beaches of grinding pebbles or stones. Animal rookery can with more than 1000 individuals. Sea elephants are calm, even slightly phlegmatic animals.
Nutrition of the marine elephant
Sea elephants feed with challenges and. According to some information, the sea elephant length, which is about 5 m, eats 50 kg. fish.
Thanks to its large physique, a lot of air is delayed in a large blood, which helps sea Elephants Dive to a depth of about 1400 meters in search of food.
During deep immersion under the water, the activity of everyone slows down important organs - This process is much reduced by oxygen consumption - animals are able to delay the air up to two hours.
An elephant leather is thick and coated with rigid short wool. The animal has many fat deposits that are somewhat burned in the marriage when they do not eat food at all.
IN Antarctica Marine Elephantsthey go to the warm season in search of mining. During migration, they are able to overcome the path whose length is about 4800 km.
Reproduction and life expectancy of the marine elephant
Males reach puberty in 3-4 years. But at this age they mate very rarely, because they are still not strong enough to defend other Scythians the right to mating. The males are taking sufficient physical strength aged no earlier than eight years.
When the time comes marriage period (And this time from August to October in the Southern Maritime Elephant, February - gray marine elephant), animals are going to large groupswhere one of the male falls from 10 to 20 females.
There are severe battles for the right to possess the harem in the center of the colony: the males are shaking their short trunk, they roam loudly and thrown on the enemy to apply as many wounds with sharp fangs.
Despite its large physique in a fight, males can almost completely raise their body, standing over the ground only on one tail. The weak young individuals of the male are displaced on the edge of the colony, where the conditions for mating females are much worse.
After setting the owner of the harem, pregnant females give birth to the cubs, which were conceived back in the previous year. Pregnancy lasts a little less than a year (11 months). Body length of a newborn baby 1.2 m, weight - 50 kg.
The body of the cub is covered with a soft brown fur, which lines a month after birth. Brown fur is changing a dark gray thick fur. After the appearance on the light of the offspring, the female raises and feeds him with milk for a month, and then pairing again with the male.
At the end of the month, young people still live a couple of weeks on the shore, while not eating anything, put into consumption, previously accumulated fat. The offspring goes into the water two months after the appearance of the light.
And white are worst enemies for young sea elephants. Since mating sea Elephants The process is quite intense (fighting, "persuading" females) Most of the cubs die due to the fact that they are simply crushed.
The life expectancy of males is about 14 years old, females - 18 years. Such a difference arises due to the fact that males get a lot of serious injuries during the competition, which worsens the overall health. Often, injury is so heavy that animals cannot recover from them and die.
Sea elephants are mammals that belong to the class of lobs. They can be compared with seals, they are very similar. The difference is only in size, marine elephants are greater, as well as in a leather process up to 30 cm long in the nose area, which is considered for the trunk. Therefore, maritime elephants were called - because of this trunk. 
Where are the marine elephants inhabit?
Sea elephants live in Southern Hemisphere Earth prefer subnutrctic climatic zonesbut you can meet these mammals and in arctic zones. Popular places for the colonies of marine elephants are the islands of Hörd and McDonald, South Georgia, Prince Eduard, Cryau, Kerplegen Archipelago, as well as some Peninsula and Islands of beaten Antarctica. 
What is the uniqueness of the marine elephant?
- Sea elephant is considered the most large predator in the world. The diet of its nutrition consists of squid, sometimes fish and krill.
- Conducted in water up to 300 days a year. The remaining 2-3 weeks, sea elephants find a fry on the beaches near the shore for mating and reproduction.
- During the time in the water, marine elephants overcome the distance of up to 13 thousand kilometers, making daily immersions into water to 700 meters, but cases of immersion and up to 2000 meters were noticed.
- Registered the maximum stay under water of the marine elephant is 120 minutes.
- The blood of the sea elephants is saturated with oxygen, which makes it possible to make such distant swims and diving. Yes, and the blood itself is the fifth of the entire mass of the body of a mammal (this is 2-3 times more than a person).
- The length of the males body can range from 4 to 6 meters, the weight of their body is 3-5 tons. And the length of the female body is significantly less - from 2.5 to 3 meters, the weight of the body is up to 1 ton.
- Baby marine elephants are called puppies. Puppies are born quite large. The length of their bodies at birth can be 125 cm, and the weight is up to 50 kg.
- The number of marine elephants in all over the world is about 800 thousand individuals, a large half of them lives on the island of South Georgia.
- The organization of the pairing process of these mammals is similar to harem. The strongest males regularly fight for their right to become the "master of the Harem" with other males. Just a third of males have the opportunity to get to the females.
- Moving marine elephants are moving a little clumsily because of their big weight. When moving, use the front las, but most of Weight passes on rear part Bodies of the animal. In the water, on the contrary, they feel harmonious and look very graceful.
- Medium duration Life of males is 18-20 years old, and females - 12-14 years old.
The process of mating or marriage game of marine elephants
Sea elephants during swimming live alone and only 2-3 summer months These mammals spend on land, gathering large groups for recreation and reproduction. The number of such a group can reach 400 thousand individuals. The reproduction of these mammals occurs solely on land. Ready for reproduction and mating females become aged 2-3 years, males become warm late here: in 4-7 years.
When you exit sushi, all milmous females are collected in one pile and form, the so-called, harem, where only the elected males have the right to get. Each male who wants to get to the Society of females must defend its right to reproduction. The males are published by pulling Röv and begin their battles among themselves. These battles are sometimes cruel and are that one of the males drives out from its territory of another male. In this battle important role Play size, weight and of course age mammal.
After the victory, the male is heading towards females and gets the opportunity to copulate with them. Only the third part of all males can be given to this honor. One male can mate with large quantity Females: from 20 to 300 individuals, sometimes even up to a thousand females.
On average 2-3 months after arrival, puppies appear on the duch of females. When puppies are performed for three weeks, they muddle. Black fur, which was covered by their Taurus, changes to a gray fur skin. 
During the feeding of puppies with milk, the female does not depart from them even in order to catch meals. Freshing puppies can last up to 4 weeks.
In the 4th century, sea elephants were on the verge of extinction
Indeed, in the XIX century, an open hunt was an open hunt, they were the object of hunting fishery due to subcutaneous fat, which was mined from their bodies. Especially many at that time were exterminated by large males, because of which the fertility of puppies was also reduced. 
The extermination of marine elephants took place by a barbaric way. Animals were hardened with a spear on the shore, they were not allowed to get to the water and even put burning torches in the mouth. And all this for the sake of the subcutaneous fat layer, which in sea elephants can reach 15 cm thickness.
But since 1964, a ban on marine elephants entered into force. Was created International Convention To preserve Antarctic seals, which protects the rights of marine elephants and other lastonov.
Families of real seals ( Phocidae.), including the largest detachment representatives predatory mammals. Their name they are obliged to the troth-shaped nose in males and big gabarites. Despite the fact that marine elephants belong to real seals, according to their behavior and some other signs, they are more reminiscent of eared seals. There are two very similar on each other species - Northern Sea Elephant ( Mirounga Angustirostris (Gill, 1866)), living on the west coast of North America, and the Southern Sea Elephant ( Mirounga Leonina Linnaeus, 1758), having live in Antarctica.
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Sea elephants. All about animals.
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Exterior signs
A huge, an enlarged nose is absent in females and young males. After permanent growth Trunk reaches full sizes By the eighth year of life and hanging over the mouth with nostrils down. In the marriage period, this trunk is even more inflated due to an increased tide of blood. It happens that during the fighting more aggressive males-sekchechi, drove to each other trunks in shreds. Differences in the sizes in males and females are significant: the male can reach sizes up to six and a half meters, and the female is only three and a half meters.
Behavior
During the pairing period, sea elephants usually leading a single lifestyle are going to large colonies. The ratio of males and females at the same time is about one to ten, sometimes even one to twenty. For owning a harem between males comes to hard fights. Weaker or young males are crowded out on the edges of the colony, where they are expected less favorable conditions for mating. However, they are constantly trying to penetrate the center, something and the case leads to new fights. Under the protection of the dominant male, fertilized females give rise to their offspring, conceived a year earlier. For several weeks, they care about cubs before they fall again with the male.
If the male wants to mate with the female, he puts one of his front fins on it and bites her in the head. After that, the copulation begins. If the female resists, the male crashes on it and deprives the opportunity to move under pressure from its weight. Permanent contractions and hard competition lead to the fact that the cubs are crushed by mature males. Every year a large number of young people die. Sea of \u200b\u200bpuberty, sea elephants reach aged three to four years. However, strong enough to defend their own harem, males become only at the age of eight years. Pairing in more early age For them, unlikely. The average life expectancy of males due to numerous battles lower than in females, and is only 14 years old. Females live on average for four years longer.
Food
The extraction of marine elephants are fish and cephalopod. Marine elephants are able to dive for the depth of up to 1400 m. This is possible due to their large weight and a large amount of blood capable of storing a lot of oxygen. Like whales, activities internal organs In sea elephants, during diving, the depth slows down, which is why oxygen consumption is reduced. Natural enemies Sea elephants are
There is only a couple of species of marine elephants who called titles in accordance with the part being held. Ground hemisphere. These are truly unique animals, the floor of the newborn offspring of which determines the temperature of the water and common weather conditions.
Description of the marine elephant
The first finds of fossils of the marine elephant are dating hundred years ago. Animals received its name because of a small face in the face of the muzzle, externally very resembling an elephant trunk. Although only males are "worn" such a distinctive feature. Mordema face smooth with a conventional neat spout. On the nose and those and others are vibraisas - supersensitive mustaches.
It is interesting!Each year, marine elephants spend half the winter season during the molting process. At this time, they crawl into the shore, their skin is swollen in many bubbles and, literally, comes off the formation. It looks unpleasant, and feeling no more joyful.
The process is painful, causing an animal discomfort. Before everything finishes and his body will cover a new fur, a lot of time will pass, the animal will lose weight, will acquire a depleted and exhausted look. After the end of the migra, the sea elephants return again to the water to fool the fat and replenish the reserves for the coming in the future meetings with the opposite sex.
Appearance
This is the most large representatives The family of seal. They are geographically distinguished by two types - southern and northern. The inhabitants of the southern regions are slightly more in size than the inhabitants of the Northern. Sexual dimorphism in these animals is expressed extremely distinctly. The males (and southern, and northern) are much larger than females. The medium-cutting male weighs about 3000-6000 kg and reach the length of five meters. The female with difficulty reaches 900 kilograms and growth of about 3 meters. There are no less than 33 species of animal lastonovogi, so the marine elephants are the largest of all.
Animal wool color depends on various factors, among which the floor of the animal, species affiliation, age and time of year. Depending on them, woolen cover may have reddish shades, light or dark brown or gray. Basically, the female is a bit darker of males, their wool is close to the eartling identity. The males predominantly wear fur mouse. From afar of flocks of elephants, got to warm up in the sun, resemble teddy giants.
The maritime elephant has a huge body, seemingly resembling the form of oval. The lats of the animal are replaced by flippers, comfortable for quick movement in water. At the ends of the front loss are interfluent fingers with sharp claws, in some cases reaching the length of five centimeters. The paws of the sea elephant are too short to move quickly on land. The length of the adult multi-torque step is only 30-35 centimeters, because rear limbs And it replaces the forked tail at all. The head of the marine elephant is small, relative to the size of the body, smoothly flows into it. The eyes are dark, the shape of a flattened oval.
Lifestyle, behavior
On land is a huge marine mammal behaves extremely nerviar. However, as soon as the sea elephant touches the water, it turns into an excellent diver-swimmer, developing speeds of up to 10-15 kilometers per hour. These are massive animals leading in water mainly a single lifestyle. Only once a year they are going to breeding and molting colonies.
How many marine elephant lives
Sea elephants live from 20 to 22 years, while the life expectancy of the Northern Sea Elephant reaches most often only 9 years. At the same time, females live an order of magnitude longer than males. Multiple injury in fights for the championships received by the male floor.
Sexual dimorphism
The pronounced differences between the floors are one of the most striking features of the northern sea elephants. The males are not only much larger and harder than females, but also possess a great, elephant trunk, which is necessary for them for battles and demonstrate the enemy of their superiority. Also artificially obtained distinctive feature The male of the maritime elephant is the scars on the neck, chest and shoulders acquired in the process of endless battles for leadership during periods of reproduction.
Only an adult male has big trunk, resembling an elephant trunk. It is suitable in order to publish a traditional marriage river. The expansion of such a trunk allows elephant seal to enhance the sound of snort, grunts and loud drum bellows, which are heard over a few kilometers. It also performs the function of the moisture-absorbing filter. During the marriage period, marine elephants do not leave the area of \u200b\u200bsushi, so the water saving function is quite useful.
Females are an order of magnitude darker than males. They most often have a brownish color with the lighted parts around the neck. Such stains remain from the endless bites of males in the process of mating. The size of the male varies within 4-5 meters, females 2-3 meters. The weight of the adult male is from 2 to 3 tons, the female barely reach tons, weighing 600-900 kilograms on average.
Types of sea elephants
There are two separate types Sea elephants - northern and southern. Southern sea elephants are just huge. Unlike most other oceanic mammals (such as whales and dugini), these animals are not completely water inhabitants. About 20% of their lives they spend on land, and 80% in the ocean. Just a year they crawl into the shores for molting and performing the reproduction function.
Area, habitats
Northern marine elephants are found in Canada and Mexico waters, and the Southern Southern Coasts are located off the coast of New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina. The colonies of these animals are crawling on the beaches for molting or fighting for a couple. This may happen, for example, on any beach from Alaska to Mexico.
The diet of marine elephants
In his menu, mainly includes cephalophals. sea depths. These are squid, octopuses, acne, rays, skates, crustaceans. Also some kinds of fish, krill, and sometimes even penguins.
The males hunt at the bottom, while females are sent for food search in the open ocean. To determine the location and size of potential food, sea elephants use vibrays, determining the production by the slightest water fluctuations.
Marine elephants dive on great depths. Adult sea elephant can spend two hours under water, plunging to a depth of two kilometers. What exactly makes marine elephants during these epic dives, the answer is simple - feed on. With the dissemination of the groove of catchy marine elephants, many squids were detected. Less frequently in the menu includes fish or some kinds of crustaceans.
After reproduction, many northern sea elephants go to the north to Alaska to replenish their own fat reserves used during the stay on land. The diet of these animals requires deep-water immersion skills. They can dive to a depth of more than 1,500 meters, remaining under water until an extraordinary pop-up is about 120 minutes. Although most of the dives at smaller depths last about 20 minutes. More than 80% of the pastime per year is spent on feeding in the sea, in order to ensure itself with the energy for the breeding season and molting, in which the retreats on the feeder are not provided.
A huge stock of fat is not the only adaptation mechanism that allows an animal to feel beautiful at such a significant depth. Sea elephants have special sinuses located in abdominal cavitywhere they can store an additional amount of blood enriched with oxygen. This allows you to dive and detain air for a time pair of hours. They can also store oxygen in muscles with myoglobin.
Reproduction and offspring
Sea elephants - single animals. They are going together only for periods of molting and reproduction, on land. Every winter they return to peculiar tribal colonies. The females of the sea elephant reach sexual maturity aged 3 to 6 years, and males - aged 5 to 6 years. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the male, which reached this age will be in reproduction. For this, it is not yet considered quite harder, because for the female will have to fight. Only to achieve 9-12 years, he will get enough masses and strength in order to be competitive. Only at this age, the male can acquire Alfa status, giving the right to "own a harem".
It is interesting!Males fight with each other using body weight and teeth. While deadly outcomes Fights rarely happen - mutual gifts in the form of scars are ordinary. The harem of one alpha maple varies in an amount of from 30 to 100 females.
Other males crowd out on the outskirts of the colony, sometimes mating with females slightly smaller "quality" before alpha male drives them. Males, despite the already held distribution of "ladies", continue to remain on land all the period, defending busy territories in the struggle. Unfortunately, during such a fighting often, female injuries often receive and the newly born young are dying. After all, in the process of battle, a huge, six ton animal rises to the height of their own growth And with a unthinkable force falls on the enemy, the sole is everything that is on his way.
The annual cycle of reproduction of the Northern Sea Elephant begins in December. At this time, huge males get out of desert beaches. Big number Pregnant females will soon follow men to unite into large groups like harem. In each group of females, its dominant male. Competition for the dominant position is extremely intense. The males establish domination through the views, gestures, all sorts of snorts and grunts, enhance their volume with their own trunk. Entertainment fights end in many injections and injuries left by rival fangs.
After 2-5 days after the stay of the female on land, it gives birth to a baby. After the child's elephant's baby appears, a mother feeds his milk for some time. Such food isolated by the body of the female is about 12% fat. After a couple of weeks, this number increases more than 50%, acquiring liquid jelly-like consistency. For comparison, in cow Milk The share of fat is only 3.5%. It feeds his cub thus about 27 days. At the same time, it does not eat anything, but it is necessary only to their own fat stocks. Shortly before the young man leaves from the mother and goes into his own swimming, the female again mates with the dominant male and returns to the sea.
During the next four-six weeks, the kids are diligently playing swimming and diving before leaving the shore where they were born to spend the following six months in the sea. Despite the fat stock allowing them for a long time Being without food, mortality of kids during this period is extremely large. For about six months, they will walk on a thin face, as it was at this time about 30% of them will die.
Few more than half of the mating females do not give birth to the baby. The female pregnancy lasts about 11 months, after which the litter appears on the light from one young. Therefore, there are already "demolitions", after last year's pairing in place for breeding females. Then give birth and proceed again. Mothers do not eat within the whole month needed for feeding the baby.
Natural enemies
The kids of marine elephants are extremely vulnerable. As a result, they are often eaten by other predators, such as or. Also, a large share of a cub can die as a result of numerous male fights for leadership.
Marine elephants ( Mirounga.) - the largest genus in the family of real seals ,. Two types of marine elephants are distinguished, called in accordance with the hemisphere in which they live. Northern Sea Elephants ( Mirounga angustirostris) are found in coastal waters. around Canada and Mexico, and southern sea elephants ( Mirounga Leonina.) The coast of New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina are common.
Description
The oldest confirmed fossils of these animals belong to and they were found in New Zealand.
Only adult male has a big trunk similar to. The male uses it to roar during the marriage season.
Southern sea elephants are a little more than the northern. Expressed, the males of both species are much larger than females. Medium weight adult male south View It can be 3000 kg, and the body length reach 5 m. The adult female weighs about 900 kg, and its body length is approximately 3 m.
The color of the animal depends on the floor, age and season. It can be with rust, light or dark brown or gray.
The sea elephant has a large body, short front flippers with fingers and refigble rear flips. The skin is a thick layer of fat, which protects the animal in the cold. Every year, sea elephants are linted.
The average life expectancy ranges from 20 to 22 years.
Reproduction
Sea elephants - single animals. They return every winter to the created nest colonies. Females become half-arms aged 3 to 6 years, and males - in 5-6 years.
Nevertheless, males must reach alpha-status for mating, which usually comes from 9 to 12 years. Males fight with each other using body weight and teeth. While the deadly cases are rare, wounded. Harem Alpha-male is from 30 to 100 females. Other males are on the edges of the colony, sometimes mating with females before alpha males will pursue them. Male remains on land in winter to protect the territory.
About 79% of adult females fall, but only more than half of them produce offspring. The period of gestation lasts about 11 months, at the end of which one young appears. Female milk contains an extremely high percentage of fatty, more than 50% (compared with 4% of the fatty milk in women). Females do not eat within one month to feed the cub. The next mating occurs during last days Feeding.
Food and behavior
Sea elephants - mammals. In their diet enter squids, octopuses, acne, fish, krill, and sometimes. Males hunt at the bottom, and females - in open Ocean. Sea elephants use the vision and vibration of their mustache (vibrass) to find food. They can attack Shark, Kozatok and People.
These animals spend about 20% of their life on land and about 80% - in the ocean. Although they are, maritime elephants are able to fasten people on land. In the sea they develop a speed of 5-10 km / h.
Sea elephants can be immersed on great depths. The males spend more time under water than females. The adult male is capable of being under water about two hours and dive with a depth of about 2 km.
Secure status
On marine elephants hunted because of their meat, fur and fat. Poaching led to the fact that the species were on the verge of extinction. By 1892, most people believed that the northern sea elephants were extinct. But in 1910 near the island of Guadalupe off the coast mexican state Lower California was detected by the only breeding colony. At the end of the 19th century, new legislation in the field of conservation marine environment To protect these animals. Today, marine elephants are no longer dangerous, although they are at risk of entanglement in trash and fishing networks, and can also be injured in water transport collisions. IUCN lists them as animals causing the smallest concerns.
- Scientists have determined that warm temperature Waters are born more males than females.
- Orc squeals in Main Mine in the film "The Lord of the Rings: The Ring Brotherhood" was the sound of a young maritime elephants.
- In 2000, the maritime elephant made by Homer terrorized the New Zelaland city of Gisborne. Homer attacked cars, boat trailers, garbage bins, trees and even a transformer.
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