Elephant Seal Skulls

In December and January each year, certain beaches on the Channel Islands and other protected parts of California’s coast become sites of noisy and dramatic conflict. It’s the beginning of breeding season for the Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris).

During the early part of the breeding season, the huge adult males – known as bulls – battle each other for access to females. The bull’s skull is adapted for combat, not to mention threatening snorts. Here you can see the adult male’s skull contrasted with an adult female’s skull (footlong ruler for scale). What a difference!

These skulls are among the 44,000+ specimens curated by the Museum’s Department of Vertebrate Zoology, overseen by Curator of Vertebrate Zoology Krista Fahy, PhD.