NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Southern Elephant Seal
Mirounga leonina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
A male Southern elephant seal, Kerguelen Islands, TAAF, France.
Antoine Lamielle · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season. A bull southern elephant seal is about more than twice the weight of a male northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) as large sub-adult southern elephant seals have weighed 3 tons, as well as more than twice the weight of a male pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens).
Wikipedia contributors, Southern elephant seal; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:48:44.581589+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mirounga leonina (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Southern Elephant Seal
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Phocidae
- Genus
- Mirounga
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderCarnivora Bowdich, 1821
- suborderCaniformia Kretzoi, 1938
- familyPhocidae Gray, 1821
- genusMirounga Gray, 1827
- speciesMirounga leonina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mirounga. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Elephant SealMirounga angustirostris (Gill, 1866) | PhocidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Macrorhinus leoninus macquariensis Lydekker, 1909 Lydekker, 1909 | synonym |
| Mirounga leonina falclandica (Peters, 1875) (Peters, 1875) | synonym |
| Mirounga leonina macquariensis (Lydekker, 1909) (Lydekker, 1909) | synonym |
| Phoca leonina Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Mirounga leonina crosetensis (Lydekker, 1909) (Lydekker, 1909) | synonym |
| Macrorhinus leoninus crosetensis Lydekker, 1909 Lydekker, 1909 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
South America
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=180671 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:43MJ7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.