|
 |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Bearded seal - ERIGNATHUS BARBATUS
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Seal": "Seal" comes from the Old English word "seolh," for the animal.
Location: Arctic waters, around the North Pole
Habitat: Preferably shallow Arctic waters
Description: The pelt is light brown with a well-marked gradation from the dark back to the lighter underside, where there are no markings. The face is broad, with distinctive long thick whiskers. They can reach twelve feet long and almost 900 pounds heavy, with the females slightly smaller.
Behavior: This species is not gregarious, nor does it migrate. It travels passively, allowing itself to be carried by floating pack ice, drifting with the currents during the spring. It feeds exclusively on animals living on the seabed, using a technique like that of the walrus. Because it is easy to get close to these seals, they are easily hunted, but their hide is of little commercial value.
Reproduction: The young are born on the ice in April or May after a six to eleven-month gestation period. Unlike other seals, which have two, the bearded seal has four nipples, a feature shared only with the monk seals. The female produces one pup every other year, another unusual feature for a seal. The pup nurses for about two months, but stays with its mother for a long time. Sexual maturity is not achieved until the late age of seven years for males and six for females.
Go to the Carnivora Page to learn more about the all the meat-eating animals.
Or go to the Seal Index to study other
seals.
From Address Labels to Zoo Toys... All Creatures Great and Small You'll Find It at the America Zoo Gift Shop Realistic Stuffed Animals & Animal Figurines Wildlife Decor for Your Home Animal Books, Magazines, and Educational Materials A Wide Variety of Wildlife Gifts & Apparel and Much, Much More  ↓ For Your Favorite Little Animal Lover ↓
Home Animal Research Library About AmericaZoo
|
