2go A BOOK OF WHALES 



It is probable, according to F. Cuvier,* that this 

 whale is the "aries marinus " of the ancients (possibly 

 the "horrible Sea-satyre " of Edmund Spenser), for 

 the white marks on the head might be fancifully 

 interpreted as closely adpressed horns. 



The genus PSEUDORCA is thus definable :- -Teeth, 

 8-10, much like those of Orca. Rostral portion of 

 pre-maxillse broader than in Orca. Vertebral formula : 

 C. 7; D. 10; L. 9 ; Ca. 24 = 50. Six or all cervicals 

 united. Six ribs two-headed. Dorsal fin rather 

 small, falcate. 



There is but a single recognised species, which is 

 Pseudorca crassidens, Owen. \ This whale reaches a 

 length of about fourteen feet. It was originally de- 

 scribed from a skull found in the Lincolnshire fens, and 

 was naturally supposed to be an extinct species. But 

 afterwards it was discovered to live in the North 

 Sea, and a species at first regarded as distinct, Ps. 

 meridionalis, was received from Tasmanian seas. 

 The whale is scarce, and there is not very much to 

 be said about it. It is not precisely evident why 

 systematists have thought fit to remove it from the 

 genus Orca, to which it is clearly very closely allied. 



The o-enus ORCELLA is thus characterised : 



o 



Teeth, 14-19, small, sharp. Pterygoids widely 



* De PHistoire Naturelle des Cetace'es, p. 179. 



t British Foss. Mamm., p. 516 ( = Pseudorca meridionalis, Flower, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc., 1864, P- 2 4)- 



