Southern elephant seal: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the southern elephant seal lives – recorded in 12 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Mirounga leonina
Group	Seals, sea lions & walrus
Status	Vulnerable (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	12 countries
Continents	Africa, Antarctica, Oceania, South America
Class	Mammal
Order	Carnivora
Family	Phocidae

Where does the southern elephant seal live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the southern elephant seal in 12 countries and territories across Africa, Antarctica, Oceania and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Brazil.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the southern elephant seal endangered?

The southern elephant seal’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Vulnerable” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the southern elephant seal?

The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is a mammal in the order Carnivora and the family Phocidae, genus Mirounga. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the southern elephant seal

The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season. A bull southern elephant seal is about more than twice the weight of a male northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) as large sub-adult southern elephant seals have weighed 3 tons, as well as more than twice the weight of a male Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens).

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Southern elephant seal (revision 1381039668), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q215343 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).