Galapagos Fur Seal

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Galapagos Fur Seal

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Pinnipedia
Family: Otariidae
Subfamily: Arctocephalinae
Genus: Arctocephalus
Species: A. galapagoensis
Binomial name
Arctocephalus galapagoensis
Heller, 1904

The Galapagos Fur Seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis) is the smallest of all the pinnipeds. It breeds on the Galapagos Islands in the eastern Pacific - making it the only fur seal to breed in tropical waters.

The number of Galapagos Fur Seals successfully bred in a year is very sensitive to El Niño weather events. In the El Nino summers of 1982-1983 and 1997-1998 greatly increased infant mortality. Increased water temperature decreases the abundance of prey during these summers

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