A Galapagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) nurses a pup.

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In mammals, lactation has important effects on maternal and offspring fitness. Pinnipeds (fin-footed mammals) are a good mammalian group for research studies that focus on lactation because in pinniped species, the high energy investment of lactation is not complicated by paternal or alloparental care. A recent study measured 12 life history and ecological traits across pinniped species to test hypotheses concerning the influence of phylogeny, maternal body size, breeding substrate, and other factors on the evolution of lactation strategies. This photograph originally appeared on the cover of Ecological Monographs (75:2) in May of 2005.

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Primary or BEN resource type	Photograph
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Format	jpeg
Ecological Core Concept	Populations -- Life history traits and reproduction Populations
Drought & Water-Ecosystem Services Collection	Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection	Off
Big Data Collection	Off
Editor's Choice	No
Audience	Undergraduate upper division 15-16 Undergraduate lower division 13-14
Pedagogical Use Description	This photograph could be used to illustrate parental investment, lactation in mammals, a pinniped species, or reproduction.
Keywords	nursing, lactation, parent, parental investment, reproduction
Key taxa	Galapagos sea lion , Zalophus wollebaeki
Life science discipline (subject)	Ecology
Primary Author Controlled Name	J. David Baldwin
Primary Author Affiliation	Cornell University, Ecological Society of America
Primary Author email	jdb27@cornell.edu
Rights	Copyright 2005 by the Ecological Society of America.
Resource Editor	Unknown
Reviewer A	Unknown
Reviewer B	Unknown
Date Of Record Submission	2008-04-16

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