Vol. XIV, pp. 133-134 AUGUST 9, 1901 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



TilP: EARLIEST GENERIC NAME OF THE NORTHERN 



FUR SEAL. 



HY T. S. PALMER. 



Nine years ago I pfoposed CaUotdrid'^ as a substitute for Val- 

 lorhimis Gray, 1859, on the ground that the hitter name was 

 preoccupied by .6V//?>Am?/5 Blanchard, 1850, a genus of Coleop- 

 tera. Further investigation shows that Callorhimis was not, 

 as commonly supposed, the first generic name applied to the 

 northern fur seal, but that it was antedated more than forty 

 years by Otoes G. Fischer. The latter name appeared in ISlYf 

 in a publication which is not generally accessible, and the de- 

 scription of this genus is therefore repi'oduced in full below: 



Ofix'-s. Fisch. ab cordjeic. auritus. Otaries Peron. Les phoques a 

 ureilles. Cuv. Regne an. I, p. 1(36. 



Incisivi quatuor utrinque biacuminati, superiores exteriores simplices 

 et minores. inferiores furcati, molares coiiici. Auriculae distinctae. 



Phot' a jubalii, ursina, Lin. Gmel. 



Reference to the Regne Animal which also appeared in 1817, 

 the same year in which this description was published, shows 

 that Cuvier recognized a group of eared seals under the designa- 

 tion 'Les Phoques a oreilles exterieures', which he suggested 



*Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington. VII. p. 156, July 27, 1892. 

 +Mem. Imp. Soc. Nat. de Moscou. V, p. 445, 1817. 



aS-BlOL. Soc. WASH. VOL. XIV, 1901. (133) 



