RORQUALS 163 



higher, and not so long as in Balanoptera, having 

 more the shape so far of the sternum of Balccna. 

 The differing proportions of greatest length and 

 height of the sterna of Megaptera and of Balcenoptera 

 can be appreciated from the following measurements : 



Megaptera. Length, 42 inches ; height, 30 inches. 



Balanoptera musculus. Length, 39 inches ; height, 

 22^- inches. 



The pelvic bone is provided with a small femur, 

 a feature in which the present genus resembles certain 

 species of Balcenoptera. There is, however, apparently 

 no trace of a tibia such as occurs in the Greenland 

 whale. 



The head is often studded with tubercles,^ and so 

 is the margin of the flipper. The throat has the 

 longitudinal grooves so characteristic of the family 

 Balsenopteridae. These, however, vary in number 

 considerably, and species seem to have been partly 

 characterised by their numbers. Some of the numbers 

 given by Scammon, and the sex and total lengths of 

 the whales in question, are as follows : 



No. i. Male. Length, 49 feet 7 inches ; gular folds, 26. 

 No. 2. Female. Length, 48 feet; gular folds, 21. 

 No. 3. Female. Length, 48 feet; gular folds, 18. 

 No. 4. Female. Length, 52 feetf ; gular folds, ? 



* These tubercles are of about the size of an orange. They suggest the 

 hair bulbs found in the Balaenopteras, and remains of hairs have been 

 found in them. There is probably some connection between these 

 "tumours" and the otherwise missing hairs. 



t It is said that this whale grows to a length of 75 feet ; but, as 

 observed in the case of the Sperm whale (see p. 200), such measurements 

 have to be received with caution. 



