Mouthing off about fish capture: Jaw movement in pinnipeds reveals the real secrets of ingestion

Determination of when and where animals feed and how much they consume is fundamental to understand their ecology and role in ecosystems. However, the lack of reliable data on feeding habits of wild animals, and particularly in marine endotherms, attests to the difficulty in doing this. A promising...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Deep-sea research. Part 2. Topical studies in oceanography 2007-02, Vol.54 (3), p.256-269
Main Authors: Liebsch, N., Wilson, R.P., Bornemann, H., Adelung, D., Plötz, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australian sea lions
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Ecology
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Feeding
Harbour seals
Marine
Marine and continental quaternary
Marine geology
Physics of the oceans
Pinnipedia
Surficial geology
Technology
Weddell seals
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Summary:Determination of when and where animals feed and how much they consume is fundamental to understand their ecology and role in ecosystems. However, the lack of reliable data on feeding habits of wild animals, and particularly in marine endotherms, attests to the difficulty in doing this. A promising recent development proposes using a Hall sensor-magnet system, the inter-mandibular angle sensor (IMASEN) attached to animals’ jaws to elucidate feeding events. We conducted trials on captive pinnipeds by feeding IMASEN-equipped animals with prey to examine the utility of this system. Most feeding events were clearly distinguishable from other jaw movements; only small prey items might not be resolved adequately. Based on the results of this study we examined feeding events from free-ranging pinnipeds fitted with IMASENs and dead-reckoners and present data on prey capture and ingestion in relation to the three-dimensional movement patterns of the seals.
ISSN:0967-0645
1879-0100
DOI:10.1016/j.dsr2.2006.11.014