How big does a Southern elephant seal get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) reaches an average size of 3.69 meter (12′ 2″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 23 years, they grow from 39.45 kg (86.96 lbs) to 1600 kg (3527.39 lbs). A Southern elephant seal has 1 babies at once. The Southern elephant seal (genus: Mirounga) is a member of the family Phocidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is one of the 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 40% heavier than a male northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris), more than twice as heavy as a male walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), and 6–7 times heavier than the largest living terrestrial carnivorans, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) and the Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi).
Animals of the same family as a Southern elephant seal
We found other animals of the Phocidae family:
- Weddell seal with a size of 2.55 meter (8′ 5″)
- Ringed seal with a size of 1.29 meter (4′ 3″)
- Baikal seal with a size of 1.28 meter (4′ 3″)
- Mediterranean monk seal with a size of 2.6 meter (8′ 7″)
- Hooded seal with a size of 2.33 meter (7′ 8″)
- Crabeater seal with a size of 2.27 meter (7′ 6″)
- Leopard seal with a size of 3.05 meter (10′ 0″)
- Caribbean monk seal with a size of 2.29 meter (7′ 7″)
- Ribbon seal with a size of 1.53 meter (5′ 1″)
- Grey seal with a size of 2.08 meter (6′ 10″)
Animals with the same size as a Southern elephant seal
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Southern elephant seal:
- Beluga whale with a size of 4.25 meter (14′ 0″)
- Northern elephant seal with a size of 3.72 meter (12′ 3″)
- Pygmy beaked whale with a size of 3.72 meter (12′ 3″)
- Leopard seal with a size of 3.05 meter (10′ 0″)
- West Indian manatee with a size of 3.5 meter (11′ 6″)
- Northern giraffe with a size of 4.18 meter (13′ 9″)
- Indian rhinoceros with a size of 3.74 meter (12′ 4″)
- African manatee with a size of 3.5 meter (11′ 6″)
- Javan rhinoceros with a size of 3.1 meter (10′ 3″)
- White-beaked dolphin with a size of 3.05 meter (10′ 1″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Southern elephant seal
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Southern elephant seal:
- Lichtenstein’s hartebeest
- Tibetan macaque
- Dwarf hutia
- Baird’s tapir
- Brazilian brown bat
- Greater mouse-deer
- Sumatran rhinoceros
- Tasmanian pademelon
- Malayan civet
- Painted ringtail possum
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Southern elephant seal
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Southern elephant seal:
- Japanese serow with an average maximal age of 18.5 years
- Red-bellied titi with an average maximal age of 25.25 years
- Lesser spot-nosed monkey with an average maximal age of 19 years
- Bongo (antelope) with an average maximal age of 19.42 years
- Black wildebeest with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Sooty mangabey with an average maximal age of 26.75 years
- Weddell seal with an average maximal age of 25 years
- Eurasian otter with an average maximal age of 22 years
- Kit fox with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Northern olingo with an average maximal age of 25 years
Animals with the same weight as a Southern elephant seal
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Mirounga leonina:
- Indian rhinoceros with a weight of 1839.1 kilos (4054.52 lbs)
- False killer whale with a weight of 1360 kilos (2998.28 lbs)
- Javan rhinoceros with a weight of 1740 kilos (3836.04 lbs)
- Strap-toothed whale with a weight of 1500 kilos (3306.93 lbs)
- Beluga whale with a weight of 1380.82 kilos (3044.18 lbs)
- Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale with a weight of 1500 kilos (3306.93 lbs)
- Hippopotamus with a weight of 1528.16 kilos (3369.01 lbs)