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8 - Females

Designed to Reproduce

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2021

Bernard J. Le Boeuf
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Cruz
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Summary

Females are designed to reproduce, and mating is a small part of the process. Females that are most productive breed early in life, at every opportunity (annually), live long, and wean large pups that are most likely to survive and reproduce. These supermoms are rare but have the greatest influence on the next generations. In contrast, most female weanlings (75%) die before reaching breeding age, and most that survive to breed do so only a few times. Long-lived supermoms live up to age 23 and may produce 20 pups in life.

Type
Chapter
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Elephant Seals
Pushing the Limits on Land and at Sea
, pp. 80 - 98
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Females
  • Bernard J. Le Boeuf, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Book: Elephant Seals
  • Online publication: 23 September 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009052085.009
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  • Females
  • Bernard J. Le Boeuf, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Book: Elephant Seals
  • Online publication: 23 September 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009052085.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Females
  • Bernard J. Le Boeuf, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Book: Elephant Seals
  • Online publication: 23 September 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009052085.009
Available formats
×