6 A BOOK OF WHALES 



of the whales, will at once strike the reader. The 

 whales live under like conditions ; the other animals 

 lead totally different lives. The sloth never leaves 

 the trees to whose branches it clings by the help of 

 its long curved claws, and upon whose leaves it 

 browses. The ant-eater digs up with its sharp claws 

 the firmly-welded ant-hills of tropical America, and 

 licks up with its long tongue the ants which it thus 

 disturbs. Whales, on the other hand, not only all 

 live in the sea (or in rivers), but spend a great deal 

 of their time below the surface, and are nearly all 

 animal feeders. Moreover, it seems to be a well- 

 established fact that the majority of whales range 

 freely over wide stretches of ocean, the same species 

 occurring in such widely - separated localities as 

 Tasmania and the coast of Britain (e.g., the Sperm 

 whale), while some perform regular migrations. 

 Hence diverse temperatures can have but little effect 

 in producing differences. It is an interesting fact to 

 note that those whales which are restricted in their 

 ran^e are at least often more different from their 



o 



allies. The members of the family Platanistidae are 

 restricted in range, and show differences among them- 

 selves. No one could confound the Platanista of 

 the Ganges with Inia of the Amazons. Beluga and 

 Monodon are peculiar types, and they are both Arctic 

 in habitat. We cannot, however, push this matter 

 further, since, as is the case with most general state- 

 ments, there are exceptions. Among these excep- 

 tions we may note the Greenland Right whale, which 

 differs but slightly from the widely distributed Bal&na 

 australis, or biscayensis as it is sometimes called. 



