California sea lion
California Sea Lions
The California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus ) is a seal pelts, which is common to the North American coasts of the Pacific.
The California sea lion is recognized as a separate species. Previously, he was next to the Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki ) and the Japanese sea lion (Zalophus japonicus ) as subspecies of a common species.
Features
Although he is related to other sea lions ( Steller sea lion shear, New Zealand Sea Lion ), the California sea lion is different in shape from them. He is slender, his head is pointed and the other sea lions mane typical for the bulls is missing. Males grow up to 220 centimeters long and 400 kilograms, females come to 180 centimeters and 90 kilograms. Bulls are dark brown, cows are much brighter.
Dissemination
The ( Actual ) California Sea Lion has its colonies on the coasts of California and northern Mexico; particularly prominent he is represented on islands, for example, on the Channel Islands. Outside the breeding season the animals wander far and wide and get up on Canadian shores.
Way of life
California sea lions prefer sandy beaches and rarely stray far from the coast. When prey they dive about 40 meters deep and looking for fish and squid. Often the sea lions dive in groups and circle together schools of fish a. California sea lions are considered the most elegant and fastest seals. For a copy of 40 km / h has been measured before.
The reproductive behavior is similar to the other lions: The males take a few days before the females on the shores of one. Once the females arrive, the males begin to fight for their territories. In the course of these struggles younger and weaker males are pushed to unfavorable places at the edge of the colony. The females, which are located in the vicinity of the victorious bull which form his harem.
In the colonies, the sea lions live crowded together; an individual is rarely more than 1 m². On average, a harem includes 16 females; depending on the location of the territory, it may be more or much less even significantly. By the previous battles ensures that the strongest males entertain the largest harems.
The females give birth shortly after landfall to their young (as with all seals only one young per female), an estimated seven days intensively take care of the offspring, and then mate with the bull. The boys are very independent after two weeks and form small associations where they run around together and play.
System
Traditionally, the California Sea Lion Galapagos Sea Lion (Zalophus wollebaeki ) and the Japanese sea lion (Zalophus japonicus ) were performed as subspecies of a common type, but this was disputed. Even Wilson & Reeder 2005 classified the three populations as a separate species, following the view of DW Rice.
A molecular genetic study came to the conclusion that 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 ).
Humans and sea lions
If sea lions are presented in a zoo or circus, it almost always is this way because it is less aggressive and easier to tame than other sea lions.
The California sea lion was hunted long because of his skin and his Trans. The sealers have thereby brought about the almost extinction of the species during the 19th century. The California population was extremely rare at the beginning of the 20th century in the wild. Thus there were 1908 on the Channel Islands only a single sea lions. Once again there are 75,000 sea lions on U.S. shores (including approximately 70,000 in the Channel Islands), and 85,000 to Mexican coasts.