Early survival is highly variable and strongly influences observed population growth rates in
most vertebrate populations. One of the major potential drivers of survival variation among …

Summary 1 Although life‐history theory predicts substantial costs of reproduction,
individuals often show positive correlations among life‐history traits, rather than trade‐offs …

Abstract 1 In order to estimate the effect of weaning mass and body condition on the post‐
weaning survival of grey seal pups from the Isle of May, Scotland in 1998 during their first …

Grey seals Halichoerus grypus Fab. are large, numerous marine top predators. Fears
concerning competition with fisheries have prompted calls for control measures. However …

Abstract Engelhard, GH, Peck, MA, Rindorf, A., Smout, SC, van Deurs, M., Raab, K.,
Andersen, KH, Garthe, S., Lauerburg, RAM, Scott, F., Brunel, T., Aarts, G., van Kooten, T …

Pinnipedia contains some of the most spectacular examples of sexual size dimorphism,
examples that are therefore frequently used to illustrate the theory of sexual selection. This …

Marine mammals conform to the general mammalian reproductive system centered on the
hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis. Most marine mammals are long-lived and of large …

PCB contamination was measured in the milk and serum of grey seal Halichoerus grypus
mothers and in the serum of their pups sampled from 2 to 5 times between parturition and …

Life history theory hypothesises that breeding events induce reproductive costs that may
vary among individuals. However, the growing number of studies addressing this question …

Summary 1 Three hypotheses have been advanced to account for age‐related improvement
in performance: the selection hypothesis predicts improved due to the loss of lower quality …