Elephant-seal, or SEA-ELEPHANT (Macrorhinus proboscideus or leontinus), the largest of the seals, the male measuring about 20 feet in length. It occurs in the southern oceans off Patagonia, Juan Fernandez, Kerguelen, &c. The colour is grayish, the teeth relatively very small, the hind-feet without nails. The males are much larger than the females, and have a tubular prolongation of the snout, dilatable in excitement. They live in families and societies, and feed on fish and molluscs, especially cuttle-fishes. The skin furnishes leather; the oil is valuable for burning; the tongue alone is palatable. Some distinguish a second, almost exterminated, species (M. angustirostris), found off the coasts of California and Western Mexico. See SEAL.