Implications of a comparison of the airbourne vocalizations and some aspects of teh behaviuo of the two Australian fur seals, Arctocephalus spp., on the evolution and present taxonomy of the genus

Abstract

The structure and number of airborne vocalizations of Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus and A. forsteri were studied. Four types of calls were compared: the pupattraction call given by adult females; the female-attraction call given by pups; the high-intensity guttural threat given by adult males; and, the repetitive barking call given by adult males. Male A. fovsteri gave two additional threat calls not present in A. p. doriferus. The structure and number of the calls given by the two species are substantially different. They here then compared to the calls of other members of the genus for which data were available and it became evident there were two vocal types within the genus Arctocephalus. We believe this is the first time such a situation has been reported in mammals. In addition to vocalizations, data on behaviour and morphology are presented to show the enigmatic taxonomic position, between the fur seals and the sea lions, occupied by A. pusillus.