Study has shown that mothers seals recognize the voice of their baby as soon as they are two days old.
Research has shown that this ability is beneficial for both mother and baby in times of danger.
Mothers lose around half of their body mass when newborn elephant seals are being suckled, and their babies see a seven-fold increase.
It is due to the “exceptional fat” of their mother’s milk.
A study found that mother seals recognize their pups’ voices as early as two days of age.
Researchers were puzzled by the fact that female seals can sometimes feed their pups to each other, despite this being obvious.
According to Dr Caroline Casey of University of California Santa Cruz’s study, “Females are fast during nursing,” she told BBC.
“So it does not make any difference.” [evolutionary]They would be wise to spend their time on another mom’s pup.
But at this location [a colony in California]We have observed a number of instances in which females feed pups that are not their own.
Dr. Casey believes that human error may be the cause.
According to her, elephant seals were nearly exterminated in the 1800s. Therefore, the current population of around 300,000.00 animals is related to 20 preserved seals.
Elephant seals have a high genetic similarity, which may be why elephant mothers are drawn to other female pups.
Researchers are now trying to determine if seals will feed their pups from sisters or cousins.
They conducted the study that led to by Dr Juliette Linossier, the international team of scientists recorded calls of individual pups using a microphone on the end of a long pole.
Researchers said this ability makes sense because it helps both mothers and their babies survive during a perilous time
For their study, which led Juliette Linossier recorded individual pups’ calls with a microphone attached to a long pole by an international team. With a small speaker, they played back the recorded recordings to mother elephant seals (pictured).
The recordings were then presented to the mother elephant seals via a speaker. They monitored their reactions to calls made by other pups of similar age and their babies.
Research showed that mothers were more inclined to investigate the speaker and move toward it when the pup’s sound was being played.
In their paper, the authors noted that “this is a rare example of individual recognition among phocid mother and her offspring” and suggested that the consistency in maternal responsiveness might be an important social element influencing the pup’s growth and survival.
The research has been published in the journal Royal Society journal Biology Letters.