John Edward Gray

“ 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? ”

“ Skull rather depressed; brain-cavity nearly as long as the beak, depressed, much expanded on the sides, with a very deep notch on the middle of each side over the condyles of the lower jaw, and with a subtriangular crown-plate. The nose as broad as the expanded brain-cavity at the base, regularly attenuated to a fine point in front, and slightly arched downwards. ”

“ The lower canines are small, scarcely larger than the cutting-teeth, which are [24] 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 absolute length of the under-fur differs in the various species. Judging from the old and young specimens of A. nigrescens, the hairs seem to be longer, both absolutely and relatively to the under-fur, in the young than in the adult animals. The hairs of the Hair-Seals are shorter, flat, channelled above, and gradually tapering from the base to the tip, merely contracted at the insertion into the skin. The breadth of the hairs seems to vary in the different species; and in the younger specimens there are to be observed some soft hairs like the under-fur of the Fur-Seals. ”

“ Up to this point the dorsal line was, according to my informant, entirely smooth, without knob or fin, or scar of one; hence I suppose the fin (if present) to have been situated, as in Sibbaldius &c., at the posterior fourth of the length, and not, as in Balænoptera, on the posterior third. It may then be safely assumed, bearing in mind the form of vertebræ, that ten feet of the whale’s length had been removed, making in all 43 feet. That the species attains over 50 feet is probable, as the present individual was quite young, the epiphyses separating from the vertebræ with the greatest ease. ”

“ Difficult as it is for the zoologist to distinguish the species by their external appearance, the skins of the different species of Fur-Seals are easily distinguished by the dealers, even when they are wet, showing that the practical fellmonger is in advance of the scientific man in such particulars, as the dealers in whalebone were in regard to the distinction of the species of the Whale by their baleen (see Zool. Erebus & Terror) . ”

“ 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. ”

“ Muffle hairy on the edge, and between the nostrils. Ears without any conch, merely a small aperture. Arms and legs very short; wrist very short. Toes subequal, arched, exserted. Hind feet large, fan-shaped; the inner and outer toes large and long, the three middle ones shorter. The palms and soles hairy. Claws distinct, sharp. Skull:—postorbital process none or obsolete; no alisphenoid canal; the mastoid process swollen, seeming to form part of the auditory bulla. The scapula expanded upwards and backwards towards the posterior superior angle. ”

“ The form of the lower jaw gives a very peculiar appearance to the skeleton. The cervical vertebræ are united together by their bodies and large dorsal spines, the latter forming a thick conical process. The bodies of the dorsal vertebræ are very small, enlarging in size towards the tail; they are thirty-six in number. The four terminal caudal ones are very small, forming a kind of cylindrical process. There are eight chevron bones. The thoracic cavity is small. There are twelve ribs on each side. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 trade of the Continental nations being chiefly confined to their colonies, or their merchants obtaining the whalebone that is used in their manufactures second-hand, there are not in the market the varieties of whalebone and finner-bone which we have in this country, where the whalebone and finner-bone from different localities bear each a different value. ”

“ It may be very true that zoologists have erred (myself among the number) in making too many genera and species; but the correction of this error requires as much study and consideration of the entire subject as have been used in their determination; and science is not advanced by hasty alterations founded on a few specimens.
The Eared Seals are collected for their oil and skins. Most of the species have very dense under-fur of soft erect hairs between the bases of the longer hairs. These are called “Fur-Seals;” and the skins, when deprived of their long hairs, are very valuable. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The head is 2 feet 51⁄2 inches long and 14 inches across at the widest part; the lower jaw 2 feet 3 inches long and 61⁄4 inches high behind the tooth. The left tooth measures 6 inches in length, 33⁄8 inches in width, and is 13⁄4 inch thick [not well represented in the figure] . The space between the teeth measures 71⁄4 inches. The limbs are very imperfect; all the smaller bones are missing; and there is only a part of one scapula. ”

“ When they are very slender, as in the Greenland Whale, they form only a single layer between the two coats of enamel, and their produced ends make a very fine, long, flaccid fringe to the inner edge of the blade. In other Whales they are very numerous, in many series, and form a considerable part of the thickness of the whalebone, and make a more or less broad and rigid fringe to the blade. ”

“ Beak of skull elongate, depressed. Teeth small, slender. Nasal triangle moderate. Dorsal fin distinct. Pectoral fin falcate; hand larger than the forearm-bones. Skull elongate, slender; brain-case spherical; beak slender, elongate, longer than the brain-case; intermaxillaries convex. Teeth small, slender, five or six in an inch. The symphysis of the lower jaw short. The blowers are moderate.
* Beak of the skull twice as long as the brain-case. Teeth five in an inch. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Toes nearly of equal length, the outer one on each side being rather the strongest (see Cat. Seals and Whales, p. 44, f. 15) . Three middle toes clawed. The fur is generally provided with a more or less thick under-fur. Skull with a postorbital process. An alisphenoid canal. Mastoid process strong and salient, extending aloof from the auditory bulla. Cutting-teeth 6/4, upper often bifid; canines conical; grinders 5/5 or 6/5. The scapula is curved backward to the upper angle, but with its spine or crest near the posterior margin. Testicles enclosed in the small external scrotum. ”

“ Teeth well developed in one or both jaws, sometimes deciduous. Palate without baleen. Head large or moderate, compressed. Tympanic bones two, dissimilar, separate, becoming united, sunk in a cavity in the base of the skull. Gullet large.
The suborders in this section have certain relations to each other by which they may be arranged in two parallel series:—
Division I. Nostrils longitudinal, parallel or diverging; each covered with a valve (cf. p. 62) .
Suborder III. PHYSETEROIDEA.
Physeteroidea, Gray, l. ”

“ If I am not deceived by the prepared skins, the flap appears to be longer in the adult than in the young specimens; and judging from the specimens in the Museum, it is longest in Callorhinus ursinus, and it gradually becomes shorter in Arctocephalus antarcticus, A. falklandicus, Phocarctos Hookeri, A. cinereus, Otaria jubata, and A. nigrescens. It is very short in Neophoca lobata and Eumetopias Stelleri.
The “Prodrome of a Monograph of the Pinnipedes,” by Mr. Theodore Gill, wherein he named several genera of this group, and a paper by Dr. ”

“ Burmeister, An. Mus. P. Buenos Ayres, i. p. 387, tab. 23 (animal) , tab. 25 & 26 (skeleton) .
Inhab. South Atlantic, Monte Video.
The animal figured by Gervais as Delphinus (Stenodelphis) Blainvillii (Voy. Amér. Mérid. t. 23) differs from Burmeister’s figure in having an elongated subfalcate pectoral fin, and a higher dorsal, and a broad white streak, commencing from the blower and extending down the back to near the tail. If this is not a figure of the animal seen at sea, which I suspect it must be, it must be a different species.
Suborder VI. ZIPHIOIDEA.
Ziphiidæ, Gray, Cat. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It thus appears that they winter and produce their young all along the broken water off the southern coasts of Hudson’s Strait, Davis Strait, and Labrador.”
He continues, “I am strongly of belief that the Whales of the Spitzbergen sea never, as a body, visit Davis Strait, but winter somewhere in the open water at the southern edge of the northern ice-fields. ”

“ Pterygoid bones short, thin, involuted to form, with a process of the palatine bone, the outer wall of the postpalatine air-sinus. Numerous teeth in both jaws (Monodon excepted) , sometimes deciduous. Symphysis of mandible short or moderate, never exceeding one-third the length of the ramus. Bones of the skull not raised into a distinct crest behind the anterior nares. Orbit of moderate size. Lachrymal bones not distinct from the jugal. Pectoral limbs varying much in form and size. Dorsal fin usually present.”—Flower.
[65]
Tribe I. STENONINA.
Stenonina, Gray, Synops. ”