Mummified and skeletal southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina ) from the Victoria Land Coast, Ross Sea, Antarctica
We report on an accumulation of mummified southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Inexpressible Island on the Victoria Land Coast (VLC), western Ross Sea, Antarctica. This accumulation is unusual, as elephant seals typically breed and molt on sub‐Antarctic islands further north and do not cu...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11568/950528 https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12581 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.12581 |
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ftunivpisairis:oai:arpi.unipi.it:11568/950528 2024-02-04T09:55:53+01:00 Mummified and skeletal southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina ) from the Victoria Land Coast, Ross Sea, Antarctica Koch, Paul L. Hall, Brenda L. de Bruyn, Mark Hoelzel, A. Rus Baroni, Carlo Salvatore, Maria Cristina Koch, Paul L. Hall, Brenda L. de Bruyn, Mark Hoelzel, A. Ru Baroni, Carlo Salvatore, Maria Cristina 2019 STAMPA https://hdl.handle.net/11568/950528 https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12581 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.12581 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000511602300010 volume:35 issue:3 firstpage:934 lastpage:956 numberofpages:23 journal:MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE https://hdl.handle.net/11568/950528 doi:10.1111/mms.12581 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85060145243 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.12581 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Mirounga leonina mummy paleoecology paleoenvironment Holocene Antarctica Ross Sea info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2019 ftunivpisairis https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12581 2024-01-10T17:52:23Z We report on an accumulation of mummified southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Inexpressible Island on the Victoria Land Coast (VLC), western Ross Sea, Antarctica. This accumulation is unusual, as elephant seals typically breed and molt on sub‐Antarctic islands further north and do not currently occupy the VLC. Prior ancient DNA analyses revealed that these seals were part of a large, Antarctic breeding population that crashed ~1,000 yr ago. Radiocarbon dates for Inexpressible Island mummies range from 380 to 3,270 yr before present, too old to have been created by Scott's Northern Party in 1912 and varying too widely in age to represent a catastrophic death assemblage. Skeletal measurements reveal that most Inexpressible Island mummies are adult or subadult males. The presence of male elephant seals on Inexpressible Island until several hundred years ago suggests that, at a minimum, it served as a haul‐out site for the large Antarctic population and may have hosted a breeding colony. The conditions that allowed this Antarctic population to use the Ross Sea, the factors spurring its decline, and the implications for the adaptability and sensitivity of the species to environmental change all merit further study. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Elephant Seals Inexpressible Island Mirounga leonina Ross Sea Southern Elephant Seals Victoria Land ARPI - Archivio della Ricerca dell'Università di Pisa Antarctic Inexpressible Island ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.900,-74.900) Ross Sea Victoria Land Marine Mammal Science 35 3 934 956 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
ARPI - Archivio della Ricerca dell'Università di Pisa |
op_collection_id |
ftunivpisairis |
language |
English |
topic |
Mirounga leonina mummy paleoecology paleoenvironment Holocene Antarctica Ross Sea |
spellingShingle |
Mirounga leonina mummy paleoecology paleoenvironment Holocene Antarctica Ross Sea Koch, Paul L. Hall, Brenda L. de Bruyn, Mark Hoelzel, A. Rus Baroni, Carlo Salvatore, Maria Cristina Mummified and skeletal southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina ) from the Victoria Land Coast, Ross Sea, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Mirounga leonina mummy paleoecology paleoenvironment Holocene Antarctica Ross Sea |
description |
We report on an accumulation of mummified southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Inexpressible Island on the Victoria Land Coast (VLC), western Ross Sea, Antarctica. This accumulation is unusual, as elephant seals typically breed and molt on sub‐Antarctic islands further north and do not currently occupy the VLC. Prior ancient DNA analyses revealed that these seals were part of a large, Antarctic breeding population that crashed ~1,000 yr ago. Radiocarbon dates for Inexpressible Island mummies range from 380 to 3,270 yr before present, too old to have been created by Scott's Northern Party in 1912 and varying too widely in age to represent a catastrophic death assemblage. Skeletal measurements reveal that most Inexpressible Island mummies are adult or subadult males. The presence of male elephant seals on Inexpressible Island until several hundred years ago suggests that, at a minimum, it served as a haul‐out site for the large Antarctic population and may have hosted a breeding colony. The conditions that allowed this Antarctic population to use the Ross Sea, the factors spurring its decline, and the implications for the adaptability and sensitivity of the species to environmental change all merit further study. |
author2 |
Koch, Paul L. Hall, Brenda L. de Bruyn, Mark Hoelzel, A. Ru Baroni, Carlo Salvatore, Maria Cristina |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Koch, Paul L. Hall, Brenda L. de Bruyn, Mark Hoelzel, A. Rus Baroni, Carlo Salvatore, Maria Cristina |
author_facet |
Koch, Paul L. Hall, Brenda L. de Bruyn, Mark Hoelzel, A. Rus Baroni, Carlo Salvatore, Maria Cristina |
author_sort |
Koch, Paul L. |
title |
Mummified and skeletal southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina ) from the Victoria Land Coast, Ross Sea, Antarctica |
title_short |
Mummified and skeletal southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina ) from the Victoria Land Coast, Ross Sea, Antarctica |
title_full |
Mummified and skeletal southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina ) from the Victoria Land Coast, Ross Sea, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Mummified and skeletal southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina ) from the Victoria Land Coast, Ross Sea, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mummified and skeletal southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina ) from the Victoria Land Coast, Ross Sea, Antarctica |
title_sort |
mummified and skeletal southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina ) from the victoria land coast, ross sea, antarctica |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11568/950528 https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12581 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.12581 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.900,-74.900) |
geographic |
Antarctic Inexpressible Island Ross Sea Victoria Land |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Inexpressible Island Ross Sea Victoria Land |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Elephant Seals Inexpressible Island Mirounga leonina Ross Sea Southern Elephant Seals Victoria Land |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Elephant Seals Inexpressible Island Mirounga leonina Ross Sea Southern Elephant Seals Victoria Land |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000511602300010 volume:35 issue:3 firstpage:934 lastpage:956 numberofpages:23 journal:MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE https://hdl.handle.net/11568/950528 doi:10.1111/mms.12581 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85060145243 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.12581 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12581 |
container_title |
Marine Mammal Science |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
934 |
op_container_end_page |
956 |
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1789960075594432512 |