part of the zygomatic arch._ Sea-bears.
Tribe 2. CALLORHININA. Grinders 6/5·6/5. Skull oblong; face broad,
shorter than the orbit; forehead arched. Flap of toes very long.
2. _Callorhinus._ Under-fur abundant. North-west coast of America.
Tribe 3. ARCTOCEPHALINA. Grinders 6/5·6/5; face of the skull shelving
in front; the fifth and sixth grinders behind the front of the zygomatic
arch. Flap of toes moderate.
3. _Phocarctos._ Grinders large, lobed, the six upper with two notches on
the hinder edge. Under-fur sparse. South America.
4. _Arctocephalus._ Grinders thick; crown conical. Under-fur abundant.
Tribe 4. ZALOPHINA. Grinders 5/5·5/5, large, thick, in a close continuous
series; the fifth upper in front of the back edge of the zygomatic arch.
5. _Zalophus._ Grinders large and thick, in a close uniform series.
Under-fur sparse. North Pacific.
6. _Neophoca._ Grinders large, thick, all equal, in a continuous uniform
series. Under-fur sparse. Flap of toes very short. Australia.
Tribe 5. EUMETOPIINA. Grinders 5/5·5/5, more or less far apart; the
hinder upper behind the hinder edge of the zygomatic arch, and separated
from the other grinders by a concave space.
7. _Eumetopias._ Under-fur sparse. Flap of toes very short. West coast of
North America.
8. _Arctophoca._ Under-fur abundant. Flap of toes long. West coast of
South America.
Sect. I. _The palate produced behind to a line even with the condyles.
The palatine surface of the maxillaries extending behind the teeth and
with its posterior processes very long. It is deeply concave behind, and
becomes deeper as the animal increases in age. The hinder nostril is
short, with a truncated front edge. Flap of toes rather long._ Sea-lions.
Tribe I. _OTARIINA._
Otariina, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1869, vol. iv. p. 269.
1. OTARIA.
Grinders 6/5. In the adult skulls the fourth upper grinder is under the
front edge of the orbit, and the sixth or last in a line with the back
edge of the zygomatic arch. The hinder edge of the palate is rather in
front, on the line of the condyles. The teeth in the younger skull are
more lobed than in the adult; the upper grinders are also differently
disposed; the third upper grinder is under the front edge of the orbit,
and the fifth tooth is in a line with the back edge of the zygomatic
arch, and the last or sixth tooth is far behind it (see skull, Cat. S. &
W. p. 58, f. 18). This change is remarkable, as the teeth of the young
and the adult _Zalophus Gilliespii_ are similar in number and position.
Otaria (subg. Otaria), _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, p. 263.
Otaria, _Gray_, _Cat. Seals & Whales_, p. 57; _Ann. & Mag. N.
H._ 1866, vol. xviii. p. 230; _Gill_, and _Peters_.
Platyrhynchus, _F. Cuvier_.
1. Otaria jubata. _Sea-lion._
Fur dark brown; cheeks, temples, and sides of the forehead black; neck
greyish brown; back of the neck yellow-brown; belly dusky black; hairs
flat, tapering, dark brown, yellow, and whitish intermixed, without any
under-fur.
Sea-bear, _Illustrated London News_; _Boy’s Own Book_.
Otaria jubata, _label in Zoological Gardens_, 1865; _Gray_,
_Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist._ 1868, i. p. 109; _Murie, P. Z. S._
1869, p. 101, t. viii. (male, female, and young); _Abbott_,
_P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 190; _Sclater_, _P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 528;
_Peters_, _Monatsber_. 1866, p. 262.
Otaria leonina, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, pp. 264, 665;
_Gray_, _Cat. Seals & Whales_, p. 59, f. 18.
Otaria Godeffroyi, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, p. 266, t. 1.
Otaria Byronia, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, pp. 269 & 666.
Otaria (Phocarctos) Ulloæ, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, p. 270.
Otaria Ulloæ, _Tschudi_, _Fauna Peruana_, pp. 135, 136, t. vi.
Otaria (Otaria) Ulloæ, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, pp. 667 & 671.
Inhab. South America, Falkland Islands, Chili.
The oldest of the three adult skulls in the British Museum differs from
the other two in the pterygoid processes of the hinder edge of the palate
being closer together than in the rest; but this character seems to
depend on the greater age of the animal, as it differs slightly in the
other two specimens. In all the younger specimens, varying greatly in
size, the pterygoid processes are far apart.
Dr. Peters considers (1) _Platyrhynchus leoninus_ of F. Cuvier, (2)
_Phoca Byronia_ of Blainville, and (3) an adult specimen which is in
the Hamburg Museum, and of which he described and figured the skull as
_O. Godeffroyi_, to be distinct species. I cannot see any difference
between the skull in the College of Surgeons, on which _Phoca Byronia_
was founded, and those in the British Museum; and the figure of the
skull described as _O. Godeffroyi_ is very similar to the skull in the
British-Museum collection which I have called _O. jubata_.
This animal has the harsh fur without any under-fur of _Phocarctos
Hookeri_; but it entirely differs from that animal in the colour of the
fur. This cannot arise from the greater age of the animal, as it is not
nearly so large as the half-grown _P. Hookeri_ in the British Museum.
In the dark blackish-brown colour of the fur and the pale-brown colour
of the nape, and in the absence of the under-fur, this Seal resembles
the adult _Neophoca lobata_ from Australia; but in that species the
pale colour extends all over the crown, while in the young male _Otaria
jubata_ there are only a few paler scattered hairs on the middle of the
crown and nose.
Dr. Murie represents the skull of a nearly full-grown male and of a
female nearly of the same age (P. Z. S. 1869, p. 103. f. 1, 2). They
greatly differ, the nose and the palate being much wider in the male
than in the female, and the teeth in the male (but this may be only an
individual peculiarity) were much worn down.
He observes, “the whole of the palate is much narrower than in the male
of the same size, especially in the maxillary region, and the teeth are
much weaker and more sharply pointed.”
He observes, “The young of both sexes are alike of a dark brown or very
deep chocolate colour. The males about a year old retain somewhat of the
chocolate tint of their youth, which, however, is paler, and subsequently
changes annually as the coat is shed. The females of equal age assume a
dark grey hue dorsally, while the abdominal parts are light yellowish. As
they grow older they alter little.
“Males a couple of years old or more become of a rich brown shade on the
back and sides, and lighter or yellowish beneath. Old males alone are
maned.
“There is a sparse underwool on the young, which sensibly diminishes with
age.
“The skulls of the adult male and female differ considerably, the latter
being comparatively the narrower of the two—the former possessing a
somewhat different form of teeth, besides proportionally immense canines.
“The teeth of _Otaria jubata_ are subject occasionally to a peculiar
wearing, of a median constricted character.
“Between the female and male of this species there is a wide difference
as regards the stretch of the pectoral flippers. In the skin of the male
the breadth from tip to tip of the fore flippers is equal to or greater
than the length of the body; in the female the reverse obtains. This fact
points to greater strength and swimming-power of the former.”
Sect. II. _The palate rather produced behind. The front edge of the
hinder nasal opening in a line with the middle of the zygomatic arch._
Sea-bears.
Tribe II. _CALLORHININA._
Grinders 6/5·6/5. Skull oblong; face broad, shorter than the orbit;
forehead arched. See Cat. S. & W. p. 45, f. 16 (skull).
Callorhinina, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1869, vol. iv. p. 269.
2. CALLORHINUS.
Skull elongate; forehead rounded in front of the orbit, rather swollen.
Palate rather concave, as wide in front as at the end of the tooth-line,
rather narrowed behind. The sixth upper grinder just behind the hinder
edge of the zygomatic arch; the grinders moderate, fifth and sixth upper
and the fifth lower with two diverging roots. Front flapper small,
narrow. Flap of toes very long.
Callorhinus, _Gray_, _P. Z. S._ 1859, p. 359; _Annals & Mag.
N. H._ 1866, vol. xviii. p. 234; _Cat. S. & W._ p. 44, f. 16
(skull); _Peters_.
Arctocephalus, _Gill_!
1. Callorhinus ursinus. _Northern Sea-Bear._
B.M.
Phoca ursina, _Linn._; _Pander & D’Alton_, t. 7. f. 1 (not
good).
Otaria (Callorhinus) ursina, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, pp. 273
& 672.
Otaria Stelleri (part.), _Lesson & Müller_.
Callorhinus ursinus, _Gray_, _P. Z. S._ 1859, p. 359, t. 58
(skull); _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1866, xviii. p. 235; _Cat. Seals &
W._ p. 44, f. 16 (skull); _Allen_, _Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool._ ii.
pp. 44 & 73, tab. 2 & 3. figs. 1-8.
Arctocephalus ursinus, _Gill_, _Proc. Essex Inst._ vol. v.
1866, p. 13 (not _F. Cuvier_).
_Young._ Arctocephalus monteriensis, _Gray_, _P. Z. S._ 1859,
p. 358 (skin only).
Arctocephalus californianus, _Gray_, _Cat. Seals & Whales_, p.
51 (skin only).
Inhab. Kamtschatka. B.M.
Tribe III. _ARCTOCEPHALINA._
Grinders 6/5·6/5; face of the skull shelving in front; the fifth and
sixth grinders behind the front of the zygomatic arch.
3. PHOCARCTOS.
The skull elongate, forehead flat. The palate concave, deep, with a
thickened margin on each side in front, widest in the middle part of
the tooth-line, and gradually narrowed behind the teeth; the internal
nares oblong, longer than broad, truncate in front, the front edge in
a line with the orbital process of the zygomatic arch. Grinders large,
compressed; the fifth and sixth upper behind the back edge of the
zygomatic arch. The grinders have compressed roots; some of them have a
very indistinct longitudinal groove on the side; the fifth upper grinder
has two distinct roots. The ear-bones scarcely prominent, with a flat
lower surface. Flap of toes moderate.
I have not seen an adult skull of this genus. The skulls described are 10
inches long, but the bones are not knit (see Cat. S. & W. p. 47, f. 17).
Arctocephalus § II., _Gray_, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1859, p. 109.
Phocarctos, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1866, vol. xviii. p.
234.
Otaria (part.), _Allen_, _Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool._ ii. p. 44.
1. Phocarctos Hookeri. _The Southern Hair-Seal._
B.M.
Fur brown-grey, slightly grizzled, pale, nearly white beneath; hairs
short, close-pressed, rather slender, flattened, black, with whitish
tips, the tips becoming longer on the under part of the sides; feet
reddish or black; whiskers black or whitish.
Young pale yellow, varied with darker irregular patches; length 18
inches. B.M.
Arctocephalus Hookeri, _Gray_, _Zool. Erebus and Terror_, t.
14, 15 (skull); _Cat. Seals B. M._ p. 45. f. 15; _P. Z. S._
1859, pp. 109, 360, _Cat. Seals and Whales B. M._ pp. 53, 54.
Arctocephalus falklandicus, _Burmeister_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._
1866, xviii. t. 9. f. 1, 2, 3, 4 (skull only).
Otaria (Phocarctos) Hookeri, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, pp. 269
& 671.
Phocartos Hookeri, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1866, vol.
xviii. p. 234 (the Hair-Seal of the sealers).
Otaria jubata (part.), _Allen_, _Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool._ ii. p.
45.
Young or albino? entirely cream-coloured, about 2 feet long.
Eared Seal, _Pennant, Quad._ ii. p. 278.
Phoca flavescens, _Shaw, Gen. Zool._ i. p. 200, t. 73 (from
_Pennant_).
Inhab. Falkland Islands and Cape Horn.
Pennant, in his ‘Quadrupeds,’ describes an Eared Seal, rather more than
2 feet long, the whole body of which was covered with longish hair of a
whitish or cream-colour; it was brought from the Straits of Magellan,
and preserved in Parkinson’s Museum on the south side of Blackfriar’s
Bridge (see “Eared Seal,” Pennant’s Quad. ii. p. 278). Dr. Shaw, in his
‘General Zoology,’ gave the name of _Phoca flavescens_ to this species,
and figured it (i. p. 260, t. 73).
This is very probably the young of the Hair-Seal of the Falklands,
described by me as _Arctocephalus Hookeri_, which is of a pale-yellowish
colour. Pennant does not mention the want of the under-fur.
Dr. Burmeister observes:—“We have in the Museum [at Buenos Ayres] a young
half-grown specimen [of _Arctocephalus falklandicus_] nearly 3 feet long.
From this I have taken the skull, of which I send you a description and
drawings” (Ann. N. H. 1866, xviii. p. 99, t. 9. f. 1, 2, 3, 4). From
the comparison of the figures, and especially of the teeth and the form
of the palate, with our older skull of _Arctocephalus Hookeri_, I have
little doubt that it is the skull of a specimen of that species before
the grinders were all developed. It is not the skull of _Otaria jubata_,
which the other specimen he called _A. falklandicus_ is, as proved by the
form and position of the hinder nasal openings. The figure of the young
skull differs from the older skull of _A. Hookeri_ in the British Museum
in having a notch in the middle, while the older skull of _A. Hookeri_
has a conical prominence in the same place. Such differences are found in
skulls of Seals at different ages.
The skull of the young animal described and figured by Dr. Burmeister as
_Arctocephalus falklandicus_ (Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1866, xviii. p. 99, t. 9.
f. 1 & 2), is probably the young skull of this species. It agrees with
it in the elongated form of the skull, and in the large size and great
development of the processes of the orbits.
Dr. Murie regards _Otaria Philippii_ as founded on the skull of this
species (P. Z. S. 1869, p. 108).
Mr. Allen, on the contrary, includes _Otaria Hookeri_ as a synonym of
_Otaria jubata_. One could not have a better proof of the want that Mr.
Allen had of more materials when he undertook a revision of the family.
4. ARCTOCEPHALUS.
Arctocephalus, _F. Cuvier, Peters_.
The face of the skull elongate, forehead flat. The palate concave,
especially in front, with a thickened margin on each side near the teeth,
and then narrowed behind; the internal nasal opening elongate, longer
than broad, narrow and arched in front, the edge in a line with the
orbital process of the zygomatic arch, which is large and well developed.
Flap of toes moderate.
In the adult skull of _A. antarctica_, from the Cape, the fifth hinder
grinder has only very short rounded callous roots, which are slightly
divided into two lobes; and the hinder sixth upper grinder seems to
have a root of the same character. But not having any skulls of younger
animals, I am not able to describe what are the forms of the roots of
these two teeth in the younger state.
In the skulls of the older specimens (which are not adult, as they have
the sutures between the bones still distinct), the fifth and sixth upper
grinders have two distinct diverging roots.
* _The fifth and sixth upper grinders with two roots (?); the sixth upper
partly behind the hinder edge of the zygomatic arch._ Arctocephalus.
(Africa.)
1. Arctocephalus antarcticus. _The Cape Fur-Seal._
Phoca antarctica, _Thunb._, _Mém. Acad. Pétersb._ iii. p. 322;
_Fischer’s Synop._ p. 242.
Arctocephalus schisthyperoës, _Turner_, _Journ. Anat._ 1868, p.
113, f. ⸺.
Arctocephalus schistuperus, _Günther_, _Zool. Record_, 1868, p.
20.
Arctocephalus antarcticus, _Gray_; _Allen_, _Bull. Mus. Comp.
Zool._ ii. p. 45.
Arctocephalus Delalandii, _Gray_, _P. Z. S._ 1859, t. 69
(skull); _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1866, vol. xviii. p. 235; _Cat. S.
& W._ p. 52.
Phoca ursina, _Cuvier_, _Oss. Foss._ t. 219. f. 5.
Arctocephalus ursinus, _F. Cuvier_, _Mém. Mus._ vol. xi. p.
205, t. 15, no. 1. _a_, _b_, _c_ (skull).
Otaria ursina, _Nilsson_.
Halarctus Delalandii, _Gill_, _l. c._ p. 7.
Otaria (Arctocephalus) pusilla, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, pp.
271 & 671.
_Junior._ Petit Phoque, _Buffon_, _H. N._ xiii. t. 53, = Phoca
pusilla, _Schreb._
Inhab. South Africa, Cape of Good Hope.
The two adult skulls in the British Museum differ greatly in the width
of the hinder nasal opening, in the form of the hinder lower lateral
processes of the occipital bone, in the form of the back of that bone,
and in the shape of the condyles.
The skull from the Cape of Good Hope, in the Museum of the University
of Edinburgh, was described and figured by Dr. Turner under the name
of _Arctocephalus schisthyperoës_, in the ‘Journal of Anatomy and
Physiology,’ vol. iii. p. 113. The name is changed to _A. schistuperus_
by Dr. Günther in the ‘Zoological Record’ for 1868, p. 20. It is
evidently the skull of a half-grown animal, with all its teeth developed,
but with the sutures of the bones still apparent. It agrees in every
respect with what I should expect to be the form and structure of the
skull of _Arctocephalus antarcticus_ from the Cape; but unfortunately the
two skulls of that Sea-bear from the Cape which are in the British Museum
are from old animals; and the specimen figured by Cuvier, Oss. Foss.
v. 220, t. 18. f. 5, is also adult. It differs from the skulls of the
two adult specimens of that species in the British Museum in the hinder
nasal aperture being much extended forwards and gradually tapering to a
point in front, which reaches to the transverse palato-maxillary suture.
This peculiarity in the form of the palate, which Prof. Turner has not
observed in any other seal-skull, seems to have induced him to regard it
as a distinct species. From the examination I have made of the skulls of
Seals in the Museum and other collections, I am induced to believe that
it is an individual abnormality of _Arctocephalus antarcticus_. I have
observed a similar malformation in the palates of two other species.
I was myself misled by their structure, before I met with the other
examples, to regard a skull with such a deformity as a distinct species.
At one time I thought that it might be a peculiarity of the young state,
as it had up to that time only been observed in skulls of half-grown
animals. It occurs in half-grown specimens of _Euotaria nigrescens_; but
the skulls of the very young specimens of this Seal in the British Museum
have the front edge of the hinder nasal opening truncated and slightly
arched in form, with well-developed square palatine bones united by a
central suture just as in the adult, but broader and straighter.
It was this observation that induced me to return to my original
opinion, that the skull which I had at first regarded as a young skull
of _Arctocephalus monteriensis_ (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1859), and then as a
separate species under the name of _A. californianus_ (Cat. Seals and
Whales, p. 51), was only a monstrosity of _A. monteriensis_, as I did
in the Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1866, xviii. p. 232; and I am now induced
to believe that _Arctocephalus schisthyperoës_ is only an imperfectly
developed skull of _A. antarctica_.
Dr. J. R. Forster, in Cook’s voyage in 1775, observed the Eared Seal at
the Cape of Good Hope, and called it _Phoca ursina_. Believing it to be
the same as the Sea-bear he had observed in New Zealand, Thunberg, in
his list of Cape Mammalia in the third volume of the ‘Transactions of
the St. Petersburg Academy,’ iii. 322, notices this animal under the
name of _Phoca antarctica_ (see Fischer, Syn. Mam. p. 242). Dr. Peters
has applied the name of _Otaria pusilla_ to this species, believing it
to be the _Petit Phoque_ of Buffon, which has been named _Phoca pusilla_
by Schreber, and had before been named _Phoca parva_ by Boddaert. Buffon
says that it came either from India or the Levant; but it is not by its
description to be distinguished from a young specimen of almost any of
the species. It is as likely to have come from the Falkland Islands as
from the Cape, as the French had traffic with Les Iles Malouines, as they
call them.
M. de Buffon describes a small Eared Seal, which he calls a “second
Phoque” (vol. xiii. p. 341, t. 43, where it is named “le petit Phoque”),
which, he was assured, came from India, but very probably came from the
Levant; and he considers it adult, because it has all its teeth. It is
only one-fifth of the size of the Seal of the European seas (Hist. Nat.
xiii. p. 344). He further speaks of it as “le petit Phoque noir des Indes
et du Levant” (p. 345). It is evidently a young Eared Seal. The figure is
probably from the skin, with the bones of the toes and jaws, presented
to the cabinet by M. Mauduit (mentioned at p. 433. n. 1273), and said to
have come from India.
The specimen Buffon figured, then being in the Paris Museum, was thus
described by Cuvier (Oss. Foss. v. p. 220):—“Cet animal a deux pieds
de long; ses oreilles sont grandes et pointues; son pelage est fourré,
luisant, d’un brun noir très-foncé et a sa nuance blanchâtre. Le ventre
seul est brun-jaunâtre.” The teeth show that it is young.
The figure and description of the _Petit Phoque_ of Buffon have had the
following names given to them:—
Little Seal, _by Pennant and Shaw_.
Phoca pusilla, _Schreber_, _Säugeth_. 314 (_Peters_).
Phoca parva, _Bodd. Elench._ 78.
Otaria pusilla, _Desm. N. Dict._
Otaria Peronii, _Desm. Mamm._
Fischer, in his ‘Synopsis,’ under _Phoca pusilla_, p. 252, gives the Cape
of Good Hope and Rotteness Island, on the coast of Australia, as the
habitat of the species.
The description of Cuvier much more nearly fits that of the young
_Arctocephalus nigrescens_ from the Falkland Islands. The fur of the
young Cape Seal is dark, black above and below; the hairs are slender,
and brown (not whitish) at the base; and the underside is not yellowish
brown; so that it is very doubtful if it is the young of the Cape Seal.
Dr. Peters, believing Buffon’s specimen to be a young Cape Seal, changed
the name of _Delalandii_ to _pusilla_.
In the Museum are three states in flat skins:—
1. Adult male, with slight mane, called in the sale-catalogue
“large-wig.” Fur whitish, with a few intermixed black hairs; under-fur
short, reddish. B.M.
2. Adult, without the mane, called in the sale-catalogue “middling.” Fur
reddish white, grizzled with scattered black hairs; underside of the body
darker, reddish brown; under-fur short, reddish. B.M.
3. Young, about 18 inches long, called in the sale-catalogue “black pup,”
from the Cape of Good Hope. Fur black, polished, soft, smooth, without
any grey tips, rather browner black beneath; under-fur brown, very
sparse; hairs slender, polished, black, with very slender brown bases.
B.M.
** _The fourth, fifth, and sixth upper grinders with two distinct
diverging roots: the fifth in a line with the hinder edge of the
zygomatic arch._ Euotaria. (America.)
2. Arctocephalus nigrescens. _The Southern Fur-Seal._
Arctocephalus nigrescens, _Gray_, _Zool. Erebus and Terror_, t.
⸺; _P. Z. S._ 1850, pp. 109, 360; _Cat. Seals and Whales_, p.
52; _Gerrard_, _Cat. of Bones_, p. 147.
Arctocephalus (Euotaria) nigrescens, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. Nat.
Hist._ 1866, xviii. p. 236.
Arctocephalus falklandicus, _Gray_, _Cat. S. & W._ p. 55;
_Allen_, _Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool._ ii. p. 45.
Otaria (Arctocephalus?) falklandica, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866,
p. 273.
Otaria (Arctophoca) falklandica, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ pp. 371 &
671.
Otaria falklandica, _Sclater_, _P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 528;
_Abbott_, _P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 192.
Otaria jubata (young), _B.M._
Euotaria nigrescens, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist._ 1868, p.
104.
Otaria nigrescens, _Murie_, _P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 106.
Inhab. Falkland Islands, Volunteer Rock (_Capt. Abbott_).
The two skulls of this species in the British Museum agree in most
particulars; but they differ considerably in the form of the hinder
nostrils. The larger one is without its upper teeth, but the forms of the
roots are well exhibited by their sockets; the front edge of the hinder
nasal opening is produced rather further forward, and is acutely angular.
The other skull, which is rather smaller and has the teeth in good
condition, has the hinder nasal opening with a slightly arched, nearly
truncated, front edge.
Dr. Peters refers _Phoca falklandica_ (Shaw, Zool. i. p. 256) and _Otaria
falklandica_. (Hamilton, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1839, p. 81, t. 4; Jardine,
Nat. Lib. vi. p. 271, t. 25) to this species. But as neither Dr. Shaw nor
Dr. Hamilton describes the number or position of the teeth, it is not
possible to determine if this is the _Fur-Seal_ of the sealers, collected
at the Falkland Islands, more especially as the fact of the skull coming
from the Falkland Islands is not well ascertained. See the other synonyma
which have been established on the sealers’ descriptions and figures or
the skins collected for the furriers at the Falkland Islands (Gray, Cat.
Seals and Whales, pp. 55, 56). Dr. Hamilton, who prides himself on his
figure, represents the hind legs as extended behind: but they look very
awkward in that position, the stuffer having evidently had a difficulty
in extending them.
The hair of _A. nigrescens_ is considerably longer than that of _A.
cinereus_, but not so harsh, the fur of the half-grown _A. nigrescens_
being longer, sparse, flat, rather curled at the end, giving it a
crispness to the feel; while the hairs of the very young specimens are
abundant, nearly of equal length, forming an even coat that is soft and
smooth to the touch.
Capt. Abbott’s young specimen in the British Museum chiefly differs from
the adult specimen in the same collection in the hairs being longer, more
erect, and with minute white tips, and in the face, throat, and chest
being rufous brown; but this reddish colour is common to the young of
several Sea-bears.
The skulls from Desolation Island, on the south-west coast of Patagonia,
presented to the Anatomical Museum of the University of Edinburgh by the
late Professor Goodsir, evidently belong to _Euotaria nigrescens_, the
usual Fur-Seal of the Falkland Islands and other parts of the coast of
South-west America. Two of the skulls are from adult animals, are without
the lower jaws, and have only a few worn and broken teeth, having been
rolled on the beach.
The other skull is of a young animal, exactly similar to the skull
of a young _Euotaria nigrescens_, n. 1013_e_, in the British-Museum
collection. The front edge of the hinder nostrils is as arched as in that
specimen; the teeth are rather more developed than in our skull; they
have a well-marked central lobe and a distinct small acute tubercle on
the front edge of the cingulum.
The two adult skulls are very like the adult skull of _E. nigrescens_,
1013_d_, in the British Museum; but the opening of the internal nostrils
is narrower, and their front edge in one is not nearly so angular, and
in the other it is rather more arched than in either of the other two
skulls, showing that the size of the posterior nasal aperture and the
form of its front edge vary in different specimens of this species.
The comparison of the young skull with the more adult one shows that the
grinders change their position considerably as regards the front edge of
the hinder nasal opening. In the young skull of _Euotaria nigrescens_
the hinder end of the tooth-line is very near (not a quarter of an inch
from) a line level with the front edge of the internal nasal opening,
and the hinder part of the palate in front of the aperture is nearly as
broad as the middle of the palate: in the adult skull the hinder end of
the tooth-line is a full inch from the front edge of the internal nasal
opening, the hinder part of the palate is contracted toward the internal
nostril, and the internal nasal opening is lengthened and narrowed; but
the real position of the teeth, as compared with the front part of the
zygomatic arch, is little altered, though the form of the palate gives
them the appearance of being more changed than they really are.
These skulls are interesting as showing that _Euotaria nigrescens_, like
_Otaria leonina_ and _Morunga elephantina_, is, or was, common to the
Falkland Islands and the west coast of South America.
The chief character by which the adult skull of _Euotaria nigrescens_
can be distinguished from the adult skull of _Arctocephalus antarcticus_
is, that the hinder or fifth upper grinder and the penultimate or fourth
are placed rather in front of the hinder edge of the front part of the
zygomatic arch; but the position of the teeth is most distinctive in the
skull of the young animal, and loses much of its importance in comparing
old skulls together, unless the skulls and teeth are very accurately
compared; and even then the distinction is more imaginary than real.
I cannot understand Capt. Abbott’s account of this species. He says
that “the full-grown Seal is about the size of the common English Seal.
The largest skin I have ever seen I do not think measured more than 4
feet in length, perhaps hardly so much. The hair differs in colour,
being sometimes grey, and at other times of a brownish tint; that of
the young is of a darker brown colour.” All this agrees better with
the true _O. falklandica_; but yet he says the skin of his half-grown
specimen is now in the British Museum, and that skin is undoubtedly
_Euotaria nigrescens_. Has Mr. Abbott confounded the two species in his
mind? Or did he forget the animal? for he informed me that there were no
Sea-elephants now living on the island. (P. Z. S. 1868, p. 190.)
“The bones of the pectoral limb of the Fur-Seal of commerce differ from
those of the Sea-lion.”—_Murie_, P. Z. S. 1869, p. 109.
See Lecomte’s account of the habits of these animals, P. Z. S. 1869, p.
106.
The British Museum contains the skin and skull of a large blackish
Eared Seal, nearly 6 feet long, that was purchased of a dealer as “a
Fur-Seal from the Falkland Islands;” but, as the dealers seem always to
give that as the habitat for all seal-skins with a distinct under-coat
that come into their possession, I have quoted the habitat with doubt.
When occupied in describing the Seals of the southern hemisphere for
the ‘Voyage of the Erebus and Terror,’ I named the Seal _Arctocephalus
nigrescens_, and had the skull figured under that name; but the plate has
not yet been published, though copies of it have been given to Dr. Peters
and other zoologists. In the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society’
for 1859, pp. 109, 360, and in the ‘Catalogue of Seals and Whales,’ I
described the skull of this species. There is also in the Museum a skull
of a younger animal of the same species.
Capt. Abbott, in 1866, sent to the British Museum a large and a small
Seal from the Falkland Islands. The large one was examined and determined
to be the southern Sea-lion (_Otaria jubata_). The small one, nearly 3
feet long, was very similar in external appearance; and as the teeth,
which could be seen without extracting the skull, showed that it was a
young animal, it was regarded as the young of the Sea-lion, and it was
stuffed without extracting the skull, and labelled as such. This specimen
has been examined by several zoologists, among the rest by Dr. Peters,
when engaged with his paper on Eared Seals, and has passed unchallenged
until this time, thus showing how difficult it is to distinguish these
animals by their external characters alone.
Capt. Abbott, who is now residing in England, informed me that the
smaller specimen was the Fur-Seal of the Falkland Islands, that it grows
to about half as long again as the specimen sent, and that the old males
are grey from the tips of the hairs. I have therefore had the skull
extracted from the specimen; and there is no doubt that it is quite
distinct from the Sea-lion (_Otaria jubata_); and, on more careful
examination of the skin, I have little doubt, from the colour and the
character of the fur, that it is a young specimen of the Seal that I
described as _Arctocephalus nigrescens_. It is interesting as confirming
the accuracy of the habitat that I received with that specimen, and which
until this time I considered doubtful, as Pennant and others describe the
Falkland Island Fur-Seal as grey, and white beneath.
Dr. Peters, on the authority of this habitat (which I have always quoted
with doubt), has given the name of _Arctophoca falklandica_ to the animal
and skull on which I had established my _Arctocephalus nigrescens_.
In the British Museum there is the skin of a very young Seal, which was
presented by Sir John Richardson as the Falkland Island Fur-Seal, with
the observation appended that the adult is 5 feet long, and its skin is
worth fifteen dollars. It is without its skull. The fur of this young
Seal is dark brown, reddish beneath, and very like that of the young
specimen sent by Capt. Abbott; but the hairs are smoother, and the
white tips to them are longer and more marked, giving the animal a more
grizzled appearance.
There is another young Eared Seal, very like the former, which was
received with General Hardwicke’s Collection (who, no doubt, purchased
it of a dealer), said to have come from the Cape of Good Hope. I suspect
this habitat must be erroneous; for it is very unlike what I recollect
of the young Cape Eared Seals, which are called “Black Dogs,” on account
of the blackness of their colour. Unfortunately we have no specimen of
the latter in the Museum collection. General Hardwicke’s specimen only
differs from Sir John Richardson’s in being less punctulated with white;
fewer hairs have a white tip, and the tip is shorter.
Both these young specimens differ from the half-grown one obtained from
Capt. Abbott, in the fur being softer and smooth to the touch; and Capt.
Abbott’s specimen differs from the adult in the length and greater
crispness of its fur, the fur of the old one being harsh and hard and
closer pressed.
In the first essay, Dr. Peters places _Phoca falklandica_, Shaw, and
_Otaria nigrescens_ together, with doubt, observing that one was known
from the skin, and the other by the skull, overlooking the fact that
the name _nigrescens_ implied that I had seen the colour of the fur,
which was not that given by Shaw to his animal; in his second essay, Dr.
Shaw’s, Dr. Burmeister’s, and my animal are all classed together without
any doubt.
The skull of Capt. Abbott’s Fur-Seal from the Falkland Islands shows that
it was a very young animal, which had only developed its first grinders,
the permanent series being developed below them. The tentorium is bony
and well developed. The teeth are the same in position and number as
they are in the adult skull; and the upper ones, as far as developed,
are small and conical, except the fifth upper grinder, which is largest,
triangular, with a single subconical lobe on the base of the hinder
edge of the cone. The lower canines are small, scarcely larger than the
cutting-teeth, which are nearly uniform in size. The lower grinders are
of a much larger size than the upper ones in the adult skull, as if they
belonged to the permanent series: they are of the same form as the teeth
in adult skulls; but the central cone is higher and more acute, and the
anterior and posterior lobes at the base of the cone are more developed
and acute, the lobes of the last or fifth grinder being larger and rather
on the inner surface of the tooth.
The skull of Capt. Abbott’s animal is evidently not the same as the
skull of a young Eared Seal described and figured by Dr. Burmeister as
the skull of _Arctocephalus falklandicus_ from the mouth of the Rio de
la Plata, in the Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 3, vol. xviii. p. 99, t. 9,
which, from the appearance of the grinders, I suspect is the young skull
of _Phocarctos Hookeri_, the Hair-Seal of the Falkland Islands. There is
a considerable difference in the proportions of the skull sent by Capt.
Abbott from those of the one figured by Dr. Burmeister. In Capt. Abbott’s
specimen the brain-case, from the back edge of the orbit to the occiput,
is as long as the length of the face, from the same edge of the orbit to
the end of the nose. In Dr. Burmeister’s figure, the face from the same
point is much longer than the brain-case.
*** _Fourth, fifth, and sixth upper grinders with two diverging roots;
the fifth upper grinder entirely behind the hinder edge of the zygomatic
arch. The palate narrow._ Gypsophoca. (Australia.)
3. Arctocephalus cinereus. _Australian Fur-Seal._
Otaria (Arctocephalus) cinerea, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, pp.
272 & 671.
Arctocephalus nigrescens, _b_ & _c_, _Gerrard_, _Cat. Bones
B.M._ p. 147.
Black Seal, Otaria, _Cat. Sidney Museum_, ii. p. 36.
Arctocephalus cinereus, _Gray_, _Cat. Seals and Whales_, p. 56;
_Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1866, xviii. p. 236; _Allen_, _Bull. Mus.
Comp. Zool._ ii. p. 45.
Inhab. Australia (_John Macgillivray_).
Black, greyer beneath; under-fur abundant, reddish brown.
There are the stuffed skin, with its skull, and the bones of the face of
another young specimen of this Seal in the British Museum, collected in
the Australasian Sea by Mr. John Macgillivray.
According to the observations of Dr. Peters, founded on the examination
of the typical skulls, _Otaria ursina_ of Nilsson and _Otaria Lemarii_
of J. Müller (Arch. f. Naturg. 1841, p. 334) include the _Arctocephalus
antarcticus_ from South Africa and _A. cinereus_ of Australia.
_Otaria Stelleri_ of Schlegel (Fauna Japonica, t. 22. f. 55) includes
both the Australian Eared Seals, viz. _Arctocephalus cinereus_ and
_Neophoca lobata_; and it is quite distinct from the _Otaria Stelleri_ of
Lesson and T. Müller, which is a combination of the Sea-bear and Sea-lion
of Steller (that is to say, _Eumetopias Stelleri_ and _Callorhinus
ursinus_).
The males of these animals are described as twice as long and broad
(that is, four times as large) as the females. This may explain the
difference in size of the skulls from the same localities.
The fur changes its colour as the animal grows, the young being generally
black; and the adult males and females also differ considerably in the
colour of the fur.
The skulls of the following species are not known:—
4. Arctocephalus Forsteri.
Grinders 6/5·6/5, conical.
Arctocephalus Fosteri, _Fischer_; _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. Nat.
Hist._ 1868, i. p. 219.
Phoca ursina, _J. R. Forster_.
Inhab. Cloudy Bay, New Zealand.
This animal is only known from Dr. Forster’s description and figure.
Mr. Allen observes, “I can see no evidence of the New-Zealand Fur-Seal
(of Forster) being specifically distinct from the Fur-Seal of Australia,
_A. cinereus_ (auct.).”—_Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool._ ii. p. 15.
At the same time Mr. Allen ventures to remark, “perhaps the _A. cinereus_
and the _A. antarcticus_ are to be referred to the _A. falklandicus_, in
which case the habitat of this species is the southern seas generally”
(Bull. Comp. Zool. ii. p. 45): but he does not seem to have had specimens
of any of the three species; otherwise I do not think he would have
ventured upon the observation.
Unfortunately, having no skull or other parts of the Lion Seal of the
Auckland Islands (the most southern of the New-Zealand group), we are
not able to determine whether it is the same species as the Sea-lion
of the southern end of the American continent (_Otaria jubata_), or
whether it is the Sea-lion of the southern end of the African continent
(_Arctocephalus antarcticus_), or the Sea-lion of the Northern Australian
Seas (_Neophoca lobata_).
5. Arctocephalus falklandicus.
Fur very soft, elastic; hairs very short, exceedingly close, slender at
the base, thicker above, with close reddish under-fur nearly as long
as the hair; the upper surface pale, nearly uniform grey, minutely
punctulated with white; hairs brown, upper half black, with minute white
tips. The nose, cheeks, temples, throat, chest, sides, and underside of
the body yellowish white.
Falkland Seal, _Penn._ _Quad._ ii.
Phoca falklandica, _Shaw_, _Gen. Zool._ i. p. 256 (from
_Pennant_).
Otaria falklandica, _Desm. Mamm._ p. 252 (from _Pennant_; not
_Peters_ or _Burmeister_).
Otaria Shawii, _Lesson_, _Dict. Class. d’H. N._ xiii. p. 424
(from _Pennant_).
Arctocephalus falklandicus, _Gray_, _Cat. Mam. in Brit. Mus.,
Seals_, p. 42; _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1868, i. p. 103.
Fur-Seal of Commerce (Otaria falklandica), _Hamilton_, _Ann. &
Mag. N. H._ 1838, ii. p. 81, t. 41; _Jardine_, _Nat. Lib._ vi.
p. 271, t. 25 (not _Peters_).
Otarie de Péron, _Blainville_, _Journ. de Physique_, xci. p.
298; _Cuvier_, _Oss. Fossiles_, v. p. 220.
Otaria Houvillii, _Lesson_, _Dict. Class. d’H. N._ xiii. 425.
Phoca Houvillii, _Fischer_, _Syn. Mam._ p. 154. These three
names are all from the same animal.
Inhab. Falkland Islands (_Abbott_; _B.M._); New Georgia.
This is a most distinct species, and easily known from all the other
Fur-Seals in the British Museum by the evenness, shortness, closeness,
and elasticity of the fur, and the length of the under-fur. The fur is
soft enough to wear as a rich fur without the removal of the longer
hairs, which are always removed in the other Fur-Seals. Unfortunately the
specimen is without any skull; and therefore I cannot give a description
of the teeth, or refer it to any of the restricted genera of _Otariadæ_.
Mr. R. Hamilton, in the ‘Annals of Natural History’ for 1838, ii. p. 81,
t. 4, gives the history of the Fur-Seals of commerce and the method of
catching them; and he deposited two specimens in the Museum of Edinburgh,
which had been procured by Capt. Weddel. Mr. Abbott having informed me
that what I had described under the name of _Arctocephalus falklandicus_
is not now found in the Falkland Islands, and Mr. Bartlett having shown
me an imperfect skin of the same species, which he had obtained from
a fur-monger, who informed him that such fur-skins were only received
from the Arctic part of the Pacific Ocean, I was induced to request Mr.
Archer, director of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, to allow me
to examine the Seals described by Mr. Hamilton, which, on examination,
proved to be my _Arctocephalus falklandicus_, only differing from the
Museum specimen in the fur being considerably darker and harsher; and,
from Capt. Weddel’s account as given in the ‘Annals,’ these specimens
came from South Georgia or South Shetland. These Seals, which were
brought from the Antarctic Ocean, may formerly have inhabited the
Falkland Islands, and, like the Sea-lion found there by Pernetty, have
been destroyed or driven away. _Arctocephalus Hookeri_ is said to be now
found in the Antarctic Ocean and the Falkland Islands. In that case it
may be the Falkland-Island Seal of Pennant.
The _A. falklandicus_ is very like the Fur-Seal from Australia (_H.
cinereus_) in the length of the under-fur as compared with the length of
the hairs, and also in the colour of the under-fur and hair; but the fur
is much softer, and its general colour is much darker, both above and
below.
Pennant describes the “Falkland-Island Seal” from a specimen 4 feet
long, in the museum of the Royal Society, thus:—“Hair short, cinereous,
tipped with dirty white;” “grinders conoid, with a small process on one
side near the base.” It is to this description that Dr. Shaw applied the
name of _Phoca falklandica_ (Gen. Zool. i. p. 256). This agrees with
a specimen in the Museum in all particulars. It certainly is not the
dark blackish-brown Seal which I have described as the _Arctocephalus
nigrescens_, and which Dr. Peters calls _O. falklandica_.
I sent a piece of the fur of this Seal to Dr. Peters to be compared
with the fur of _O. Philippii_. He observes, “They appear to be quite
different; the wool of _O. falklandica_ is fair and has more similarity
in colour to the young of _O. cinerea_. The wool of _O. Philippii_ is
entirely ferruginous red, and the longer hairs are stiffer and have a
much shorter grey tip than in _O. falklandica_.”
6. Arctocephalus? nivosus. _Cape Hair-Seal._
B.M.
Fur very short, close-pressed, black, varied with close, small, often
confluent, white spots; underside of the neck with a few scattered white
hairs; belly red-brown (nearly bay); hairs short, thick, of one colour
to the base; under-fur none, except a very few hairs on the crown of the
head. Skull unknown.
Arctocephalus? nivosus, _Ann. & Mag, N. H._ 1868, i. p. 219.
Inhab. Cape of Good Hope. B.M.
Length of skin nearly 8 feet; but stretched and flattened.
Dr. Murie (P. Z. S. 1869, p. 108) says that this is only a variety,
seasonal, sexual, or of a different age from the specimens hitherto
obtained.
Mr. Allen adopts this view, never having seen the specimen, but changes
the phrase into “a previously known species” (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. ii.
p. 18); but neither of them mentions the species to which he refers it.
But surely Mr. Allen does not mean that it is only a variety of the skins
which were received with it from the Cape of Good Hope; for, if that were
the case, the species would belong to one of his subfamilies, and the
variety to the other.
In the form and length of the hair it is very different from
_Arctocephalus antarcticus_; and it is almost destitute of under-fur,
except on the crown of the head.
Tribe IV. _ZALOPHINA._
Grinders 5/5·5/5, large, thick, in a close continuous series; the fifth
upper in front of the back edge of the zygomatic arch.
In the younger skull the grinders are placed rather further back, the
hinder part of the upper grinder being behind the back edge of the
zygomatic arch. The grinders all single-rooted, as the last or sixth
grinder in each jaw, which is generally two-rooted, is absent. The face
of the skull is considerably produced, and the forehead is flat.
Zalophina, _Gray_, _Ann, & Mag. N. H._ 1869, iv. p. 269.
5. ZALOPHUS.
Palate concave, narrow in front, wider at the line of the last grinder,
and then contracted behind. The hinder nares narrow, elongate, twice
as long as wide, acutely arched in front, front edge in a line with the
front edge of the orbital process of the malar bone. Under-fur sparse.
Zalophus, _Gill_; _Peters_; _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1866,
xviii. p. 231.
Arctocephalus § _b_**, _Gray_, _Cat. S. & W._ p. 55.
1. Zalophus Gilliespii. _Californian Hair-Seal._
Otaria Gilliespii, _Macbain_.
Arctocephalus Gilliespii, _Gray_, _P. Z. S._ 1859, t. 70
(skull); _Cat. S. & W._ p. 55.
Zalophus Gilliespii, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1866, xviii.
p. 231; _Allen_, _Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool._ ii. pp. 33 & 44;
_Gill_, _Proc. Essex Inst._ 1866, v. p. 13.
Arctocephalus (Zalophus) Gilliespii, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866,
pp. 275 & 671.
? Otaria Stelleri, _Schlegel_, fide _Peters_.
Inhab. North Pacific, South California (Brit. Mus.); Japan (fide
_Peters_).
I have not seen any skull or specimens from Japan; so that I am not quite
sure that the specimens from the coast of Asia are the same as those from
the west coast of America.
6. NEOPHOCA.
Palate concave, broad, as broad before as at the hinder part of the
tooth-line, then rather suddenly contracted. The hinder nares broad,
rather longer than broad, with the front edge broadly arched, which is
further back than the front edge of the orbital process of the zygomatic
arch, or malar bone, which is thick and flat. Fur with very little
under-fur. Flap of toes moderate.
Arctocephalus § _b_***, _Gray_, _Cat. Seals & Whales_, p. 57.
Otaria, § Zalophus (part.), _Peters_.
Neophoca, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1866, xviii. p. 231.
1. Neophoca lobata. _Australian Hair-Seal._
Arctocephalus lobatus, _Gray_, _Spic. Zool._ 1828, t. 4. f. 2
(teeth); _Cat. S. & W._ p. 50; _Zool. E. & T. Mamm._ t. 16, 17.
f. 3-5 (skull); _Gould_, _Mamm. Austr._ iii. t. 49; _Peters_.
Otaria australis, _Quoy & Gaim._ _Astrol._ t. 14, 15. f. 3, 4
(skull).
Arctocephalus australis, _Gray_, _Cat. Seals & Whales_, p. 57.
Neophoca lobatus, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1866, xviii. p.
231.
Otaria (Zalophus) lobata, _Peters_, _Monatsbr._ 1866 pp. 276 &
671.
Zalophus lobatus, _Allen_, _Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool._ ii. p. 44.
The upper grinders all single-rooted, the root of the last two (the
fourth and fifth) being rather compressed, with an obscure central
longitudinal groove on the inner side; the first two grinders of the
lower jaw with oblong, the last three with compressed roots, and the
fourth and fifth with a slight longitudinal groove on the side.
In the younger skulls the roots of the grinders are more oblong, less
compressed, and do not show the lateral grooves, as far as the teeth can
be seen without being drawn from the sockets. In the front part of the
younger skull, which was received from Mr. Gould, the teeth are placed
rather further back than in the adult skull from North Australia received
from Capt. Grey, the hinder part of the fifth tooth being behind the back
edge of the zygomatic arch.
Mr. Allen thinks that this is undoubtedly the _O. cinerea_ of Desmarest,
from Péron; but it is not the _O. cinerea_ of Quoy & Gaimard (see obs. on
Péron’s Seal in the Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 57).
Tribe V. _EUMETOPIINA._
Grinders 5/5·5/5, more or less far apart; the hinder upper behind the
hinder edge of the zygomatic arch, and separated from the other grinders
by a concave space.
Eumetopiina, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag. N. H._ 1869, iv. p. 269.
7. EUMETOPIAS.
Eumetopias, _Gill_, _Peters_.
Arctocephalus § _a_***, _Gray_, _Cat. Seals & Whales_, p. 51.
Fur without any under-fur. Palate flattish or rather concave in front, as
wide in front as at the end of the tooth-line, and then slightly narrowed
behind. Posterior nares oblong, elongate, broadly truncated in front, the
front edge being behind the line of the orbital process of the zygomatic
arch. The grinders have large oblong roots; the second, third, and fourth
upper ones have a subcentral longitudinal groove on the outer side, and
a less marked one on their inner surface; the inner side of all but the
first of the lower ones are similarly grooved; the fifth upper grinder
(or, more properly, the sixth in the normal series) has two distinct
roots. The lower jaw much more elongate than that of _Otaria jubata_, the
hinder angle more oblique, and the lower margin long and straight. Flap
of toes short.
The skull of the young animal, which was sent by Mr. A. S. Taylor to
Mr. Gurney from California, and which I first described, with doubt, as
_Arctocephalus monteriensis_, junior (P. Z. S. 1859, p. 357), and which
in the ‘Catalogue of Seals and Whales’ I named _A. californianus_ (see p.
51), agrees in every respect in its dentition with the large skull which
we received from California, and which I described and figured as _A.
monteriensis_ (P. Z. S. 1859, p. 358, t. 72); but it differs greatly in
the form of the hinder nares, which are extended much more forwards, so
that the front end, which is very narrow and acute, is much in front of
the prominence of the orbit of the zygomatic arch, being, in fact, about
in a line with the middle of the lower edge of the orbital cavity.
This skull is evidently that of a very young animal; for the bones are
separate; but it has the same number and disposition of the teeth as the
large skull. There is the same wide space between the fourth and fifth
upper grinders; but there is at the back edge of the fourth grinder, on
the right side of the skull, a small pit, from which, no doubt, a small
rudimentary tooth has fallen out; and there is a much wider but shallow
pit on the other side, which may have been produced by the loss of a
rudimentary tooth; the last upper grinder has a large swollen undivided
root. If this is a young skull of _Eumetopias monteriensis_, that species
is curious for having the teeth in the old and young skulls in the same
situation as regards the bones of the face.
The adult skull and the young one were from the same locality, and, I
believe, collected by the same person; and this being the case, I am
inclined to regard them as the same, only showing a curious peculiarity
in the growth of the animal, and also showing that the form and position
of the hinder nostril probably varies as the animal increases in age.
Mr. Gill considers Steller’s Sea-bear (_Callorhinus ursinus_) to be the
type of M. F. Cuvier’s genus _Arctocephalus_, and therefore abolishes
_Callorhinus_ and gives the new name of _Halarctus_ to the true
_Arctocephali_—thus unnecessarily adding to the confusion of the generic
names of these animals. He fell into this mistake by not observing that
_Phoca ursina_, and even _Otaria ursina_, had been applied to several
species from very different localities, that F. Cuvier established his
genus on the skull of _P. ursina_ of Forster, from the Cape, which he (M.
Cuvier) had named _Phoca Delalandii_, and that F. Cuvier does not figure
a skull of the Sea-bear of Steller: indeed the French collection did not
at that time, nor does it even now, possess one; and I feel assured that,
if it had, F. Cuvier would, according to his custom, have established for
it a genus distinct from _Arctocephalus_, the skulls of the two genera
being of such distinct forms.
1. Eumetopias Stelleri. _Northern Sea-lion or Fur-Seal._
Arctocephalus monteriensis, _Gray_, _Cat. Seals & W._ p. 49;
_P. Z. S._ 1859, t. 72 (skull).
Eumetopias californiana, _Gill_, _Proc. Essex Inst._ 1866, v.
p. 13.
Otaria Stelleri, _Gray_, _Cat. S. & W._ p. 60; _Peters_;
_Müller_?
Otaria (Eumetopias) Stelleri, _Peters_, _Monatsb._ 1866, pp.
274 & 671.
Eumetopias Stelleri, _Gray_, _Ann. & Mag._ 1866, vol. xviii.
p. 233; _Allen_, _Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool._ vol. ii. pp. 44, 46,
tab. 1 & 2 (skull &c.).
Leo marinus, _Steller_.
Phoca jubata, _Pander & D’Alton_, t. 3. f. _d_, _e_, _f_
(skull, not good).
_Junior._ Arctocephalus californianus, _Gray_, _Cat. S. & W._
p. 51 (skull only).
Inhab. California; Behring’s Straits.
The skin of the young specimen which Mr. Gurney gave to the Museum along
with what was said by Mr. Taylor to be its skull (see ‘Cat. Seals &
Whales,’ p. 51) was the only skin then known to exist in museums; and
consequently I described the fur of the genus from this skin as having
abundant under-fur (see Proc. Zool. Soc. 1859, p. 358). Dr. Peters having
discovered Pander and D’Alton’s animal and skull in the Paris Museum, he
observed that the adult animal was entirely without under-fur—a fact
which has been confirmed by Mr. Allen, who suggests that the skin of
the young received from Monterey is the skin of the young _Eumetopias
Stelleri_, which, I think, is very probable. But this only shows the
difficulties that must occur in the study of animals from the very
imperfect materials which until lately existed.
The Sea-lion of Steller has been one of the zoological paradoxes.
Professor Nilsson, like most preceding authors, regarded it as a variety
of the _Otaria jubata_; and therefore I supposed it might be a second
species of the restricted genus _Otaria_. Dr. Peters has solved the
enigma by uniting it and the Seal which I described from California,
observing that the skull in the Berlin Museum, figured by D’Alton under
the name of “Steller’s Sea-lion” (_Phoca jubata_), was received from
Kamtschatka, and a second skull of an old male in the Berlin Museum was
received from Mr. Brandt as coming from Behring’s Straits.
The figure of Pander and D’Alton is so imperfect that it would have been
impossible to determine the species it represents without the examination
of the original skull; and then one sees that it may have been intended
for the species to which it is referred. The same observation is
applicable to the figure of the skull of Steller’s Sea-bear.
It is to be regretted that these skulls escaped the researches of
Professor Nilsson, who visited most museums in Europe to examine the
typical specimens.
The specimen of _Callorhinus ursinus_ now in the Museum was received from
St. Petersburg as _Otaria leonina_, or _Leo marinus_ of Steller, from
Behring’s Straits; so they evidently confound two species under that name.
8. ARCTOPHOCA.
Arctophoca, _Peters_.
Dr. Peters described this subgenus from a specimen sent from Chili by Dr.
Philippi. It chiefly differs from _Zalophus_ in the palate being much
narrower, but rather wider behind, and the teeth rather far apart. I have
not seen any skull agreeing with these characters.
“With abundant under-fur.”
According to figures, the form of the skull and the large size of the
orbit are very similar to those of _Phocarctos Hookeri_, but the number
and form of the teeth are different.
In the ‘Monatsbericht,’ May 1866, p. 276, t. 2. _a_, _b_, _c_, Dr. Peters
described and figured with considerable detail a skull of a Sea-bear
(sent to the Berlin Museum by Dr. Philippi, who obtained it at Juan
Fernandez Island) under the name of _Otaria Philippi_, forming for it
a subgenus which he calls _Arctophoca_. In his revision of that paper,
published in the same work for November 1866, p. 671, he places it as a
synonym or subspecies of what he calls _Otaria falklandica_, which is my
_Arctocephalus nigrescens_, and not the _Otaria falklandica_ of Shaw
nor the _O. falklandica_ of Burmeister as Dr. Peters supposes, as I have
shown above. In this paper he removes _Otaria falklandica_ (that is,
_nigrescens_) from the subgenus _Phocarctos_, to which he referred it in
his first paper, and places it in his subgenus _Arctophoca_.
1. Arctophoca Philippii. _Chilian Fur-Seal._
Otaria (Arctophoca) Philippii, _Peters_, _Monatsbericht_, May
1866, p. 276, t. 2 (skull), September 1866, p. 671.
Otaria Hookeri, var., _Murie_, _P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 108!
Inhab. Juan Fernandez Island (_Philippi_; in Mus. Berl.).
Above black-grey, more greyish yellow on the head and neck, brownish
black _beneath_; the base of the limbs of a rusty brown, shining; lips
and lower jaw principally rusty brown; hair of beard in six rows, partly
black, partly quite white, partly black with white base. The outbristling
(prominent bristly) pointed hairs are rusty brown at the base, black
at the end, on the back mostly with very short rusty-yellowish points,
and on the head and neck with somewhat longer ones. On the sides of the
belly the ends of the coarser pointed hairs are either uniformly brownish
black, or are very short rusty-red ones. The thick under-hair is rusty
red. The hairs on the upper surface of the neck are 22 millims. long;
those on the middle of the back 18, and those on the middle of the belly
11 to 12. The dense short hair on the back of the hand extends only to
the _middle_ of the same, not extending to the ends of the fingers, the
ends of which are furnished with very small nails. In like manner, the
very similar hair on the back of the foot does not extend to the last
“Phalangen?” of the middle toe. The nail of the large outer toe is small,
flat, and cut off short outside; that of the fifth inner toe is a little
larger and cut off abruptly on the inner side. The very developed long
nails of the three centre toes are of the form of keeled tegulæ, and
remote along their whole length by the emarginations of the skin of the
foot. The skin-flaps of the foot are equally long; and usually those of
the centre toes are much smaller than the side ones, of which the outside
one (the great toe) is the broadest. The scrotum, under the anus, is
bare.—_Peters_, _l. c._ p. 277.
I have not seen this skull; but I believe the alteration Dr. Peters made
in his second paper is a mistake. The figure of the skull of his _Otaria
Philippii_ has no resemblance to the skull of my _O. nigrescens_. It
is more nearly allied to the skull of _O. Stelleri_ from California,
agreeing with it in having a vacant space with a pit in the bone between
the fourth and fifth upper grinders on each side, looking as if a
grinder had fallen out and the cavity had been filled up. The subgenus
_Arctophoca_ of Dr. Peters’s first essay, not as modified in his second
one to contain _O. falklandica_ (_nigrescens_), chiefly differs from
Gill’s genus _Eumetopias_ (which was formed on my description and figure
of the skull of _O. Stelleri_ or _californiana_) in the fifth upper
grinder not being so far back, but in a line with the back edge of the
orbital process of the zygomatic arch instead of far behind it, as it is
in _Eumetopias_.
Dr. Murie, most curiously, considers the skull described by Dr. Peters to
be the same as I have described as _O. Hookeri_ (P. Z. S. 1869, p. 108).
Dr. Burmeister considered it _O. falklandica_ of Shaw; and Mr. Allen
(Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. vol. ii. p. 13) agrees in this opinion; but
further on (p. 15) he observes that both Dr. Gray and Dr. Murie have
“evidently overlooked the fact that Dr. Peters expressly states that _O.
Philippii_ has a _thick under-fur_, whereas both the _O. Stelleri_ and
the _O. Hookeri_ are true _hair_ Seals.” But, in fact, this statement is
a mistake as regards me; I never said that _O. Philippii_ was the same
as _O. Stelleri_, but only that its skull was most nearly allied to it,
which I still maintain.
* * * * *
_Antarctic Ocean and South Seas._
Otaria jubata. _S. America and islands._
Phocarctos Hookeri.
Arctocephalus nigrescens.
A. falklandicus.
Arctophoca Philippii. _S. America._
Arctocephalus antarcticus. _Africa._
A. nivosus. _Africa._
A. cinereus. _Australia._
A. Forsteri. _New Zealand._
Neophoca lobata. _Australia._
_North Pacific and West Arctic Ocean._
Callorhinus ursinus. _West coast of America._
Zalophus Gilliespii. _West coast of America and Japan?_
Eumetopias Stelleri. _West coast of America._
Order CETACEA.
Teeth all similar, conical, sometimes not developed. Palate often
furnished with transverse plates of baleen or whalebone. Body
fish-shaped, smooth, bald. Limbs clawless; fore limbs fin-shaped; hinder
united, forming a forked horizontal fin. Nostrils enlarged into blowers.
Teats two, inguinal.—Carnivorous.
They may be divided by the form of the pectoral fin, thus:—
I. _Pectoral fin broad, truncated or rounded at the end; fingers
5, shorter than the arm-bones, subequal, gradually shorter in the
series._—BALÆNIDÆ, CATODONTIDÆ, SUSOIDEA, ORCADÆ, BELUGIDÆ, PONTOPORIADÆ,
HYPEROODONTIDÆ, EPIODONTIDÆ, ZIPHIIDÆ.
II. _Pectoral fin elongate, obliquely truncated on the inner side;
fingers 5, elongate, longer than the arm-bones, the second and third much
longer than the rest._—INIIDÆ, DELPHINIDÆ, GRAMPIDÆ, GLOBIOCEPHALIDÆ.
III. _Pectoral fin elongate, truncated on the inner side; fingers 4,
subequal, more or less elongate._—AGAPHÆLIDÆ, MEGAPTERIDÆ, PHYSALIDÆ,
BALÆNOPTERIDÆ.
By the adhesion or non-adhesion of the cervical vertebræ, thus:—
1. Atlas distinct, the other six cervical vertebræ united by their bodies
and spines into a single mass.
_Mysticetes._
_Denticetes._
CATODONTIDÆ.
GRAMPIDÆ.
2. Atlas and cervical vertebræ all united into one solid mass.
BALÆNIDÆ.
BALÆNOPTERIDÆ.
PHYSETERIDÆ.
HYPEROODONTIDÆ
(?) ZIPHIIDÆ.
3. The atlas, axis, and generally one or two other vertebræ united; the
hinder ones sometimes free.
MEGAPTERIDÆ.
EPIODONTIDÆ.
? ZIPHIIDÆ.
DELPHINIDÆ.
GLOBIOCEPHALIDÆ.
ORCADÆ.
4. Atlas and the other cervical vertebræ entirely free.
PHYSALIDÆ.
AGAPHELIDÆ.
PLATANISTIDÆ.
INIIDÆ.
PONTOPORIADÆ.
BELUGIDÆ.