Abstract
Gentry et al. (1986a) proposed that environmental unpredictability is responsible for the long duration of maternal care that has evolved among some temperate and tropical otariids. By extending maternal care and even simultaneously suckling young from two different years, mothers can “hedge their bets” against an uncertain environment (Stearns 1976; Gentry et al. 1986a). Female Galapagos fur seals, for example, spend 2 years or more rearing their pups in an environment subject to frequent fluctuations in prey availability resulting, in part, from the El Niño phenomenon (Trillmich 1986a).
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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Francis, J.M., Heath, C.B. (1991). The Effects of El Niño on the Frequency and Sex Ratio of Suckling Yearlings in the California Sea Lion. In: Trillmich, F., Ono, K.A. (eds) Pinnipeds and El Niño. Ecological Studies, vol 88. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76398-4_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76398-4_22
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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