Editing Bearded seal (section)

==Description==
Distinguishing features of this [[earless seal]] include square fore flippers and thick bristles on its muzzle. Adults are greyish-brown in colour, darker on the back; rarely with a few faint spots on the back or dark spots on the sides. Occasionally the face and neck are reddish brown. Bearded seal pups are born with a greyish-brown natal fur with scattered patches of white on the back and head. The bearded seal is unique in the subfamily [[Phocinae]] in having two pairs of [[teat]]s, a feature it shares with [[Monachus|monk seals]].

Bearded seals reach about {{convert|2.1|to|2.7|m|ft|abbr=on}} in nose-to-tail length and from {{convert|200|to|430|kg|0|abbr=on}} in weight.<ref>[http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Erignathus_barbatus.html ''Erignathus barbatus'']. The Animal Diversity Web</ref> The female seal is larger than the male, meaning that they are [[Sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]].

Bearded seals, along with [[ringed seal]]s, are a major food source for [[polar bear]]s.<ref>{{cite episode | title = Arctic Bears | url = https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/arcticbears/index.html | series = PBS Nature | series-link = Nature (TV series) | air-date = 17 February 2008 | access-date = 24 August 2017 | archive-date = 9 February 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080209161313/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/arcticbears/index.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> They are also an important food source for the [[Inuit]] of the [[Arctic Ocean|Arctic coast]]. The [[Inuit language]] name for the seal is ''ugjuk''<ref name=inudict>{{cite book|last=Ohokak|first=G.|author2=M. Kadlun|author3=B. Harnum|title=Inuinnaqtun-English Dictionary|publisher=Kitikmeot Heritage Society|url=http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/nac/nac_dictionary/nac_dictionary.pdf|access-date=2013-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904191006/http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/nac/nac_dictionary/nac_dictionary.pdf|archive-date=2012-09-04|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=livingdict2>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingdictionary.com/term/viewTerm.jsp?term=49164977792|title=Bearded seal|work=Asuilaak Living Dictionary|access-date=2013-03-20}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> (plural: ''ugjuit'') or ''oogrook'' or ''oogruk''. The Inuit preferred the [[ringed seal]] for food and light; the meat would be eaten and the [[blubber]] burnt in the ''[[kudlik]]'' (stone lamp). The skin of the bearded seal is tougher than regular seal and was used to make shoes, whips, [[dog sled]] harnesses, to cover a wooden frame boat, the ''[[Umiak]]'' and in constructing summer tents known as ''[[tupiq]]''.<ref name="uoguelph">{{Cite web |url=http://www.arctic.uoguelph.ca/cpl/Traditional/traditional/animals/bearded_seal.htm |title=Ugjuk — Bearded Seal |access-date=2013-03-20 |archive-date=2021-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427115022/http://www.arctic.uoguelph.ca/cpl/Traditional/traditional/animals/bearded_seal.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The body fat content of a bearded seal is about 25–40%.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ryg|first1=Morten|last2=Lydersen|first2=Christian|last3=Markussen|first3=Nina H.|last4=Smith|first4=Thomas G.|last5=Øritsland|first5=Nils Are|date=18 January 1990|title=Estimating the Blubber Content of Phocid Seals|journal=Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences|volume=47|issue=6|pages=1223–1227|doi=10.1139/f90-142|bibcode=1990CJFAS..47.1223R |issn=0706-652X}}</ref>