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Generally better adapted for life on land
- Sea lions, by contrast, are generally better adapted for life on land, since their hind flippers rotate forward and function more like feet. Whereas the seals rely more on whole-body movements in the water, sea lions largely swim by rotating their hind flippers.
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Sea Lion Adaptations for Land. After learning about how much time California sea lions spend on land, you may be wondering: why are sea lions better adapted to live on the land than seals? This is primarily due to two reasons: anatomy and social habits.
- Seals
They’re often targeted by orcas, sea lions, sharks, and land...
- Seals
Sep 27, 2024 · Sea lions, by contrast, are generally better adapted for life on land, since their hind flippers rotate forward and function more like feet. Whereas the seals rely more on whole-body movements in the water, sea lions largely swim by rotating their hind flippers.
- Female
- June 1, 1982
- Writer And Editor
- Sea Lion Profile
- Interesting Sea Lion Facts
- Sea Lion Fact-File Summary
The common name for this animal combines two of the most powerful images in the natural world. The Latin name for this family refers to their little ears. This contrast sums up sea lionswell. Cute, powerful marine predators with an impressive roar.
1. Sea lions are different to seals
Seals and sea lions resemble one another quite a lot, despite being from different families. They’re both in the pinniped clade, they both live in marine, coastal environments eating fish, and they both stink to high heaven. But there are some differences if you can get close enough. Seals are usually smaller and spend more time in the water. They’re better swimmers but can’t walk as well on land. They have no visible ears and have round, puppy-like faces. Sea lions are therefore larger, spen...
2. They avoid the bends
Despite spending so much more time on land than their more elegant cousins, sea lions are extremely well adapted to life in the water. One of the coolest adaptations they have is the ability to avoid decompression sickness, or “the bends”. When air-breathing animals ascend in the water too quickly, they run the risk of the dissolved gases in their tissues emerging from the solution as the pressure drops suddenly. This can cause bubbles in the tissues, bringing with it tremendous pain in the j...
3. They can hold their breath for over 20mins
In order to do this, they need to start holding their breath with empty lungs, and that, if you’ve never tried it, is quite uncomfortable. It feels as though you can only hold your breath for a fraction of the time you can with a full set of pipes, and there’s a good reason for this. When you hold your breath, the urge to breathe again doesn’t come from a drop in oxygen levels. Rather, it comes from a sensitivity to the build-up of CO2. This byproduct of metabolism makes the blood acidic and...
Scientific Classification
1. Birgitte I. McDonald and Paul J. Ponganis (2012), “Lung collapse in the diving sea lion: hold the nitrogen and save the oxygen“, Biology Letters. 2. The Marine Detective (2014), “The Case of Stones in Sea Lions’ Stomachs“, The Marine Detective. 3. Ronald J. Schusterman & Kathy Krieger (2017), “California Sea Lions Are Capable of Semantic Comprehension“, The Psychological Record volume.
- Coastal
- 3m (10ft) long
- Around 30 years
Jun 27, 2011 · They are more adapted for life on land than seals, as they can rotate their back flippers to make it possible for them to walk and run on land. Sea lions can only dive as deep as 450m, but dives further than 200 are uncommon, and they can’t store as much oxygen in their lungs as seals can.
On land, seals and sea lions also have different methods for getting around. Sea lions, fur seals, and walruses are able to rotate their rear flippers up and under their bodies so that they can waddle on all four flippers. This enables their agile movement and balance on land.
Fourth, while both species spend time both in and out of the water, seals are better adapted to live in the water than on land. Though their bodies can appear chubby, seals are generally smaller and more aquadynamic than sea lions.
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Jun 4, 2021 · They are adapted for life on land and at sea. They have strong front flippers that support them on land and also help regulate their body temperature. Their sleek body helps them to...
