Skulls: species

Although we are focused on southern elephant seals, sometimes we find carcasses of other species of seals and sea lions. We try to collect skulls from all the carcasses that we are finding.The comparison of skulls of different species help us understanding the evolution of the size and shape of the elephant seal skull.

There is an impressive variation not only in the size of skulls but also in the level of dimorphism between the sexes. The following is a comparison of the skull dimorphism between the southern elephant seal and the leopard seal.

Male skull of three pinniped species

Adult male skull of three pinniped species, belonging to individuals found dead at Sea Lion Island

For more information please contact us by email at fil_esrg@eleseal.org. Thank you for your interest in our research projects !