Zalophus

California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus )

Zalophus is a genus of sea lions ( Otariidae ). It includes the following three ways:

• California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus )
• Japanese Sea Lion (Zalophus japonicus, extinct)
• Galapagos Sea Lion (Zalophus wollebaeki )

The split three ways instead of the formerly used to a kind of summary was not without controversy.

Features

The seals of the genus Zalophus reach a body length of 150 to 250 centimeters and a weight of 50 to 400 kilograms. As with all sea-lions, the males are much larger and heavier than the females. The males are dark brown in color, the females are lighter. However, in contrast to the other lions, the males have no clearly pronounced mane.

Dissemination and lifestyle

These seals live in the Pacific. The California Sea Lion has its colonies on the coast of south-western United States and northern Mexico, the Galapagos sea lion in the Galapagos Islands. The extinct Japanese sea lion lived in Japan and Korea.

These seals retiring for the night to the coasts. In search of food they dive up to 40 meters deep and capture this fish and squid. In the breeding season the males establish heavily guarded areas on the coasts and try to win a harem of several females.

System

Traditionally, the three populations were performed as subspecies of a common type, but this was disputed. Wilson & Reeder classified the three populations as a separate species. Also, a molecular genetic study by Wolf et al. (2007) came to the same conclusion. Consequently, the SNPs of the mitochondria and nuclei justify a separation into several types. According to the molecular clock, the California and the Galapagos sea lion have separated around 2.3 million years ago ( ± 0.5 ).