A crabeater seal that does not eat crabs and has amazing teeth

Crabeater seals, in addition to NOT eating crabs, have a very interesting feature. They have amazing teeth that look like a real work of art. But nature rewarded them with such jaws not at all for beauty, but in order to survive.

Crabeater seals live in the coastal waters of Antarctica, and their life is inextricably linked to drifting ice. In summer, when the ice retreats to the south, seals migrate to the shores of Antarctica, and in winter, on the contrary, retreat to the north. They live in large colonies, the number of which reaches several thousand individuals. Females of this species are larger than males, which is rarely found in the world of wildlife.

Oddly enough, but the crabeater seal does not feed on crabs, and the species got its botanical name by someone else's mistake. The main food of this species is Antarctic krill, crustaceans that reach 4-6 centimeters in length and are one of the most numerous species on the planet. Despite the fact that crabeater seals eat several more species of fish, their share in the diet is insignificant, and krill is still the main course of this representative of these seals. The relationship between these two species is so strong that the habitat of the predator and the prey coincide almost completely: where there is Antarctic krill, a crabeater seal will appear.

But the most amazing thing is that a long highly specialized diet led to the transformation of the teeth of the crabeater seal, or rather its lateral (buccal) teeth. These teeth are not at all solid, like many other predatory species, but have a peculiar structure, ideal for feeding Atlantic krill. Their shape is such that when the jaws are closed, the upper and lower row of teeth forms a kind of sieve: a seal swallows water with krill and filters it, thus extracting food for itself.

Atlantic krill is very common in Antarctic waters, and after it the crabeater seal has the highest number among all seals, which, according to various estimates, ranges from 7 to 14 million individuals. And while Atlantic krill flourishes in the cold waters of Antarctica, the crabeater seal with its stunning teeth is always guaranteed to feed.