Elephant Seals of Guadalupe Island 



forepart of the breast is greatly thickened. It is 

 almost hairless, and years of fighting has given it 

 an exceedingly rough and calloused surface. This 

 shield, as we may call the part of the animal most 

 exposed to attack when fighting, extends from the 

 throat just below the base of the jaws down to 

 the level of the flippers, and rather more than half- 

 way back on each side of the neck and breast. 

 Although ugly wounds are inflicted by the large 

 canines, the heavy skin in no case seems to be 

 broken through. While the animal takes good 

 care of its head and proboscis, the calloused breast- 

 shield is freely exposed to the enemy. The fighting 

 is not of the desperate sort indulged in by the fur 

 seal, and the contestants soon separate. There 

 seems to be no actual seizing and holding of the 

 skin, and after each sharp blow the head is quickly 

 withdrawn and held aloft. 



When the head of the male is elevated, the skin 

 at the top of the neck and shoulders is thrown 

 into a series of eight or ten heavy folds, which 

 extend downward and forward. When the animal 

 is at rest, with its head stretched forward on the 

 sand, these folds do not show. The fore flippers 

 are large and thick, and have heavy claws, the 

 posterior three claws being well separated. 



The proboscis of the elephant seal is broad and 

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