An animal's physiology limits the environmental conditions where it can persist; quantifying the physiology of the walrus is timely since they are being impacted by alterations in sea ice. We examined postnatal changes in hematology, an important attribute that supports diving, by analyzing a longitudinal data set from aquaria walruses (five males and nine females) sampled from 0.04 to 12.0 years of age (n = 795 samples). Red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean cell hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin content (MCHC) did not change markedly after birth and appears to have not been influenced by sex. Estimated values at birth were RBC: 3.78 ± 0.12 × 10⁶ mm⁻³, Hb: 17.62 ± 0.82 g dl⁻¹, Hct: 45.21 ± 2.01%, MCV: 118.99 ± 3.99 fl, MCH: 47.10 ± 1.77 pg, and MCHC: 39.60 ± 0.70 g dl⁻¹. Compared to newborns, there were only subtle decreases in RBC, Hb, and MCHC, and a slight increase in MCV in the years following birth; Hct and MCH appear not to have changed. Unlike other pinnipeds, walruses swim within days of birth and have a prolonged 2‐year nursing interval. Mature hematology early in life supports breath‐holding, as young walruses must transit under sea ice with patchily distributed breathing holes.

中文翻译：

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新生海象的成熟血液学支持与母亲一起潜水

动物的生理学限制了它可以持续生存的环境条件。由于海象受到海冰变化的影响，因此及时对海象的生理进行量化。我们通过分析来自0.04至12.0岁（n = 795个样本）的水族海象（五只雄性和九只雌性）的纵向数据集，检查了产后血液学变化，这是支持潜水的重要属性。出生后红细胞计数（RBC），血红蛋白（Hb），血细胞比容（Hct），平均红细胞体积（MCV），平均细胞血红蛋白（MCH）和平均红细胞血红蛋白含量（MCHC）没有明显变化，并且似乎不受性影响。出生时的估计值为RBC：3.78±0.12×10 ⁶  mm ^-3，Hb：17.62±0.82 g dl^-1，Hct：45.21±2.01％，MCV：118.99±3.99 fl，MCH：47.10±1.77 pg和MCHC：39.60±0.70 g dl ^-1。与新生儿相比，在出生后的几年中，RBC，Hb和MCHC仅略有下降，MCV略有上升。Hct和MCH似乎没有更改。与其他pin鸟不同，海象在出生后几天内会游泳，并且有2年的哺乳间隔。生命早期的成熟血液学支持屏气，因为年轻的海象必须在海冰下迁移，并散布着呼吸孔。