Data for: Molt timing and duration of northern elephant seals (2020-2022) ...

• Main Authors: Beltran, Roxanne, Costa, Dan, Condit, Rick, Robinson, Patrick
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2022
• Subjects: Elephant Seals
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7255685; https://zenodo.org/record/7255685

Individual variation in life history timing influences predator-prey interactions, information transfer, disease transmission, ecosystem services, and resource subsidies. Unfortunately, precise estimates of individual variability and plasticity in the timing of critical life history events are rare and often rely on cross-sectional observational data. Understanding how life history timing varies across individuals requires longitudinal sampling and more advanced analytical techniques for quantifying onset and progression based on imperfect observations. We utilized a Bayesian hierarchical logistic function to examine variation in timing of fur replacement (molt) across individuals, ages, and sexes of 483 northern elephant seals Mirounga angustirostris to understand the prevalence of population-level synchrony in life history timing and underscore its implications. We found that the visible molt was extremely rapid (6.2 days in adult females and 10.5 days in juveniles) and that the wide range of molt start ...