A - C
type: Concept

BBMSES
type: Concept
definition: The Southern elephant seal is a polygynous, sexual dimorphic species in which males are 4 -10 times greater ... than females. Males begin to arrive at the start of the breeding season and fight each other in areas where females will settle to give birth. When pregnant females begin to arrive, they gather in groups called harems. The result of the encounters between males is a dominance hierarchy at each breeding area, which reduces access to the grouped females to the highest-ranking males, thus allowing them to increase their breeding success. Male size is an important variable to take into account in this social structure; however, additional factors such as prior residence at the breeding area, male age, and time spent on the beach could also be variables that affect male social rank in the dominance hierarchy and thus male breeding success. By combining different techniques (paternity analyses, body measurements, daily censuses) we propose to study the breeding biology of southern elephant seals at Stranger Point, King George Island, identifying potential different strategies displayed by males to increase their breeding success. This summary is taken from http://www.dna.gov.ar/
in scheme: projects