How many baby California sea lions are in a litter?
A California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) usually gives birth to around 1 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 349 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 6.34 kg (13.99 lbs) and measure 11.1 cm (0′ 5″). They are a member of the Otariidae family (genus: Zalophus). An adult California sea lion grows up to a size of 2.02 meter (6′ 8″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lion. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of California. Sea lions are sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females, and have a thicker neck, and protruding sagittal crest. They mainly haul-out on sandy or rocky beaches, but they also frequent manmade environments such as marinas and wharves. Sea lions feed on a number of species of fish and squid, and are preyed on by killer whales and great white sharks.California sea lions have a polygynous breeding pattern. From May to August, males establish territories and try to attract females with which to mate. Females are free to move in between territories, and are not coerced by males. Mothers nurse their pups in between foraging trips. Sea lions communicate with numerous vocalizations, notably with barks and mother-pup contact calls. Outside their breeding season, sea lions spend much of their time at sea, but they come to shore to molt.Sea lions are particularly intelligent, can be trained to perform various tasks and display limited fear of humans if accustomed to them. Because of this, California sea lions are a popular choice for public display in zoos, circuses and oceanariums, and are trained by the United States Navy for certain military operations. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as Least Concern due to its abundance. To protect fish, the US states of Oregon and Washington engage in annual kill quotas of sea lions.
Other animals of the family Otariidae
California sea lion is a member of the Otariidae, as are these animals:
- South American sea lion with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Guadalupe fur seal with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Galápagos fur seal with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Northern fur seal with 1 babies per pregnancy
- South American fur seal with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Subantarctic fur seal with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Steller sea lion with 1 babies per pregnancy
- New Zealand sea lion with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Antarctic fur seal with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Australian sea lion with 1 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with California sea lion
Those animals also give birth to 1 babies at once:
- Thomas’s fruit-eating bat
- Lowland mosaic-tailed rat
- African manatee
- Underwood’s bonneted bat
- Bechstein’s bat
- Northern nail-tail wallaby
- Plains viscacha
- Voalavoanala
- Pygmy treeshrew
- Dryas monkey
Animals that get as old as a California sea lion
Other animals that usually reach the age of 30 years:
- Golden lion tamarin with 24.75 years
- Grey-cheeked mangabey with 32.67 years
- Cuvier’s beaked whale with 36 years
- Eastern grey kangaroo with 24 years
- African buffalo with 29.5 years
- Sun bear with 24.75 years
- Blainville’s beaked whale with 27 years
- Hawaiian monk seal with 30 years
- Leopard seal with 26 years
- Buru babirusa with 24 years
Animals with the same weight as a California sea lion
What other animals weight around 137.6 kg (303.35 lbs)?
- Striped dolphin usually reaching 142.05 kgs (313.17 lbs)
- Argali usually reaching 113.67 kgs (250.6 lbs)
- Peale’s dolphin usually reaching 120 kgs (264.55 lbs)
- Northern right whale dolphin usually reaching 113 kgs (249.12 lbs)
- Western gorilla usually reaching 113.29 kgs (249.76 lbs)
- Giant panda usually reaching 118 kgs (260.15 lbs)
- Common tsessebe usually reaching 133.5 kgs (294.32 lbs)
- Harp seal usually reaching 132.25 kgs (291.56 lbs)
- Fraser’s dolphin usually reaching 164 kgs (361.56 lbs)
- Dusky dolphin usually reaching 127.25 kgs (280.54 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a California sea lion
Also reaching around 2.02 meter (6′ 8″) in size do these animals:
- Okapi gets as big as 2 meter (6′ 7″)
- Brown fur seal gets as big as 1.91 meter (6′ 3″)
- Onager gets as big as 2.25 meter (7′ 5″)
- Hartebeest gets as big as 1.98 meter (6′ 6″)
- Sambar deer gets as big as 2.04 meter (6′ 9″)
- Harp seal gets as big as 1.73 meter (5′ 9″)
- Black wildebeest gets as big as 1.82 meter (6′ 0″)
- Northern fur seal gets as big as 1.74 meter (5′ 9″)
- Banteng gets as big as 2.08 meter (6′ 10″)
- Tamaraw gets as big as 2.2 meter (7′ 3″)