13 4 Palmer — Nanit oj Vnr Se<(L 



miglit prove to be generically distiiiet. In this group he placed 

 Phoca juhdiii Gmelin and P. iirsitui Graelin. Phvru jnhata 

 Gmelin is a composite species based in part on a southern fur 

 seal and in part on the northern sea lion, Leo marinns of Steller 

 = Kximetopias stelleri of recent authors. The name had been, 

 however, previously applied by Forster, in 17 75, and is now 

 generally restricted to the southern fur seal. Phoca nrsinH 

 Gmelin (= P. ursina Linn.), is the northern fur seal of Bering 

 Sea and, as the only identifiable species in the group, may be 

 considered the type of (Hoes. 



It may be objected that Fischer did not name the northern 

 fur seal, but merely applied a generic name to the eared seals in 

 general or renamed Otaria of Peron. This, however, was not 

 the case. Peron's Otaria had appeared only the year previous, 

 and there is no evidence that Fischer had ever seen the descrip- 

 tion. What he did was simply to apply a generic name to 

 Cuvier's group which, as shown above, was based chietiy on 

 the northern and not on the southern fur seal. 



Three different generic names are now applied to the northern 

 fur seal: Qdlotaria, Callorhiaus and Arctocejyhalas*. The 

 general adoption of Otoes would obviate this confusion, and the 

 species thus far described would stand Otoes arsi/itis (Linnams), 

 Otoes edascanxs (Jordan & Glark), and Otoes cari/ensis (Jordan 

 & Clark). 



*W. L. Sclater. Mammals of Soulh Africa, I, p. 118, 1900, gives the 

 type of ArctocepJadux Cuvier. 182G, as PJioca ursina. 



