page_title: South American sea lion
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: South American sea lion / Description
caption_attribution_description: South American Sea Lion skeleton in the MNHN (Paris)
context_page_description: The South American sea lion, also called the Southern Sea Lion and the Patagonian sea lion, is a sea lion found on the Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Chilean, Falkland Islands, Argentinean, Uruguayan, and Southern Brazilian coasts. It is the only member of the genus Otaria. Its scientific name was subject to controversy, with some taxonomists referring to it as Otaria flavescens and others referring to it as Otaria byronia. The former eventually won out, although that may still be overturned. Locally, it is known by several names, most commonly lobo marino /lobo marinho and león marino /leão marinho and the hair seal.
context_section_description: The South American sea lion is perhaps the archetypal sea lion in appearance. Males have a very large head with a well-developed mane, making them the most lionesque of the eared seals. They are twice the weight of females. Both males and females are orange or brown coloured with upturned snouts. Pups are born greyish orange ventrally and black dorsally and moult into a more chocolate colour.
  The South American sea lion's size and weight can vary considerably. Adult males can grow over 2.73 m (9 ft) and weigh up to 350 kg (770 lb). Adult females grow up to 1.8–2 m (6–7 ft) and weigh about half the weight of the males, around 150 kg (330 lb). This species is even more sexually dimorphic than the other sea lions.
caption: Skeleton of a male South American sea lion
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK EASYSHARE M575 Digital Camera", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "480", "Image YResolution": "480", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2011:02:05 10:42:57", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Rating": "0", "Image ExifOffset": "16688", "Image XPKeywords": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "480", "Thumbnail YResolution": "480", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "38012", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3277", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/10", "EXIF FNumber": "267/50", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "222", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:02:05 10:42:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:02:05 10:42:57", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "333/100", "EXIF ApertureValue": "483/100", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "483/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "521/50", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4288", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3216", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "37862", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "200", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "58", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}