Galápagos sea lion San Cristóbal Galápagos Ecuador DSC00189 ad🦭

Photo: Adavyd · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesCarnivoraOtariidae
Carnivores

🦭Galápagos sea lion

Zalophus wollebaeki Sivertsen, 1953

The Galápagos sea lion is a species of sea lion that lives and breeds on the Galápagos Islands and, in smaller numbers, on Isla de la Plata (Ecuador). They are the smallest sea lion species.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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3
Measurements
10
vs you
≈ 2.6× your weight
Also called
Galapagos sea lion, Galapagos Sea Lion
Conservation status
ENEndangered

IUCN Red List assessment, 2026.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
159 kg
Body length
2.26 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
36 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Galápagos sea lion

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
159 kgrecord 200 kg · SeaLifeBase
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Record: largest individual on record

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

By sex

  • Female100 kgSeaLifeBasev25.04SeaLifeBase populates Weight independently of Length; the two are not guaranteed to describe the same individual. Verify before publishing.
Body length
2.26 m
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
36 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Generation length
9.99 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
5.0 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
335 days
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Litter size
1
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Trophic level
Omnivoreestimated
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Crepuscular / mixedestimated
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
159 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

estimated = a model's estimate for a species nobody has measured; average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Galápagos sea lion yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderCarnivora
  5. ›familyOtariidae
  6. ›genusZalophus
  7. ›speciesZalophus wollebaeki
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  3. familyOtariidae
  4. genusZalophus
All 14 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderLaurasiatheria
  11. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  12. suborderCaniformia
  13. familyOtariidae
  14. genusZalophus
More

More about the Galápagos sea lion

In other languages
Galápagos-Seelöwe (de), Zalophus wollebaeki (es), lleó marí de les Galápagos (ca), Otarie des Galapagos (fr), Zalophus wollebaeki (it), 갈라파고스바다사자 (ko) … and 18 more languages
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