The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation
Pregnant female southern elephant seals vary in size by more than a factor of three when they come ashore to give birth and nurse their pups. Pups are fed exclusively from the mother's body reserves, which vary in proportion to her mass at parturition. We measured the use of body materials and...
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1996
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Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-relation-between-the-size-of-southern-elephant-seal-mothers-the-growth-of-their-pups-and-the-use-of-maternal-energy-fat-and-protein-during-lactation(4262d174-7fe0-4467-be7b-55491673daf7).html http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030474071&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.journals.uchicago.edu |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/4262d174-7fe0-4467-be7b-55491673daf7 2024-06-23T07:52:28+00:00 The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation Fedak, Michael Andre Arnbom, T Boyd, Ian Lamont 1996-07 https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-relation-between-the-size-of-southern-elephant-seal-mothers-the-growth-of-their-pups-and-the-use-of-maternal-energy-fat-and-protein-during-lactation(4262d174-7fe0-4467-be7b-55491673daf7).html http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030474071&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.journals.uchicago.edu eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-relation-between-the-size-of-southern-elephant-seal-mothers-the-growth-of-their-pups-and-the-use-of-maternal-energy-fat-and-protein-during-lactation(4262d174-7fe0-4467-be7b-55491673daf7).html info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Fedak , M A , Arnbom , T & Boyd , I L 1996 , ' The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation ' , Physiological Zoology , vol. 69 , no. 4 , pp. 887-911 . MIROUNGA-LEONINA BODY-COMPOSITION GRAY SEALS WATER FLUX ENERGETICS DURATION HYDROGEN AGE article 1996 ftunstandrewcris 2024-06-13T00:03:34Z Pregnant female southern elephant seals vary in size by more than a factor of three when they come ashore to give birth and nurse their pups. Pups are fed exclusively from the mother's body reserves, which vary in proportion to her mass at parturition. We measured the use of body materials and energy over the course of lactation using a combination of isotope dilution and mass change during four breeding seasons on South Georgia. On average, mothers lost 35% of their mass at parturition during lactation. This included approximately 52% of the energy, 61% of the fat, and 24% of the protein in the mother's body. The relative amount that mothers expend on their pups is highly variable and shows little consistent trend with the mother's mass. Some large mothers used approximately 30% of their stored energy (comprising around 40% of stored fat and 20% of body protein) to produce medium- or large-sized pups. Whereas some smaller mothers produced only small pups, others used all of or more than the reserves estimated to be available without incurring deleterious effects (68% of energy, 80% of fat, and 27% of protein). These small animals may be at risk of compromising their future reproduction. The production of small pups by these smaller females ma3' reflect a compromise between the survival of the pup and the future success of the mother. While we expected that the largest females might show a reduced efficiency, of mass transfer during lactation (because of high metabolic overheads), their ability, to reduce the duration of lactation seems to compensate for this, and no such reduction could be shown. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
MIROUNGA-LEONINA BODY-COMPOSITION GRAY SEALS WATER FLUX ENERGETICS DURATION HYDROGEN AGE |
spellingShingle |
MIROUNGA-LEONINA BODY-COMPOSITION GRAY SEALS WATER FLUX ENERGETICS DURATION HYDROGEN AGE Fedak, Michael Andre Arnbom, T Boyd, Ian Lamont The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation |
topic_facet |
MIROUNGA-LEONINA BODY-COMPOSITION GRAY SEALS WATER FLUX ENERGETICS DURATION HYDROGEN AGE |
description |
Pregnant female southern elephant seals vary in size by more than a factor of three when they come ashore to give birth and nurse their pups. Pups are fed exclusively from the mother's body reserves, which vary in proportion to her mass at parturition. We measured the use of body materials and energy over the course of lactation using a combination of isotope dilution and mass change during four breeding seasons on South Georgia. On average, mothers lost 35% of their mass at parturition during lactation. This included approximately 52% of the energy, 61% of the fat, and 24% of the protein in the mother's body. The relative amount that mothers expend on their pups is highly variable and shows little consistent trend with the mother's mass. Some large mothers used approximately 30% of their stored energy (comprising around 40% of stored fat and 20% of body protein) to produce medium- or large-sized pups. Whereas some smaller mothers produced only small pups, others used all of or more than the reserves estimated to be available without incurring deleterious effects (68% of energy, 80% of fat, and 27% of protein). These small animals may be at risk of compromising their future reproduction. The production of small pups by these smaller females ma3' reflect a compromise between the survival of the pup and the future success of the mother. While we expected that the largest females might show a reduced efficiency, of mass transfer during lactation (because of high metabolic overheads), their ability, to reduce the duration of lactation seems to compensate for this, and no such reduction could be shown. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fedak, Michael Andre Arnbom, T Boyd, Ian Lamont |
author_facet |
Fedak, Michael Andre Arnbom, T Boyd, Ian Lamont |
author_sort |
Fedak, Michael Andre |
title |
The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation |
title_short |
The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation |
title_full |
The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation |
title_fullStr |
The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation |
title_full_unstemmed |
The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation |
title_sort |
relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-relation-between-the-size-of-southern-elephant-seal-mothers-the-growth-of-their-pups-and-the-use-of-maternal-energy-fat-and-protein-during-lactation(4262d174-7fe0-4467-be7b-55491673daf7).html http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030474071&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.journals.uchicago.edu |
genre |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
op_source |
Fedak , M A , Arnbom , T & Boyd , I L 1996 , ' The relation between the size of southern elephant seal mothers, the growth of their pups, and the use of maternal energy, fat, and protein during lactation ' , Physiological Zoology , vol. 69 , no. 4 , pp. 887-911 . |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-relation-between-the-size-of-southern-elephant-seal-mothers-the-growth-of-their-pups-and-the-use-of-maternal-energy-fat-and-protein-during-lactation(4262d174-7fe0-4467-be7b-55491673daf7).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
_version_ |
1802643781264080896 |