Eumetopias jubatus

The Steller sea lion, also known as Steller's sea lion or the northern sea lion, is a large, near-threatened species of sea lion, predominantly found in the coastal marine habitats of the northeast Pacific Ocean and the Pacific Northwest regions of North America, from north-central California to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia to Alaska. Its range continues across the Northern Pacific and the Aleutian Islands, all the way to Kamchatka, Magadan Oblast, and the Sea of Okhotsk, south to Honshu's northern coastline. It is the sole member of the genus Eumetopias, and the largest of the so-called eared seals (Otariidae). Among pinnipeds, only the walrus and the two species of elephant seal are bigger. The species is named for the naturalist and explorer Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described them in 1741. Steller sea lions have attracted considerable attention in recent decades, both from scientists and the general public, due to significant declines in their numbers over an extensive portion of their northern range, notably in Alaska.

Eumetopias jubatus

Алексей Алтухов · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
Steller sea lionPBDB
Sits inside
EumetopiasPBDB
Diet
piscivorePBDB, for Otariidae
Life habit
amphibiousPBDB, for Pinnipedia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Pinnipedia
Mass
19.5 kgWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 3.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 25 occurrencesMiocene — about 1 of 25 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 25 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 14 of 25 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–785 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence785 ka–0 Mya — about 21 occurrences3.6 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

25 occurrences of Eumetopias jubatus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

25 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

5 formations

South Bight II — 51.54°N, 178.98°EYushima — 38.98°N, 141.12°EPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WOmma — 36.57°N, 136.69°ERanquil — 38.37°S, 73.91°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Eumetopias jubatus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 20 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Eumetopias jubatus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Eumetopias jubatus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

274 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 25 sites for Eumetopias jubatus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

17 references

Each of the 25 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 5 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Eumetopias jubatus

Credit
Алексей Алтухов
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Eumetopias jubatus was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEumetopias through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Schreber 1776)