News 



Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 



Vol. 4 



SEPTEMBER, 1933 



No. 9 



HABITAT GROUP OF MANATEES OR SEA-COWS ADDED TO MARINE MAMMAL HALL 



By Wilfred H. Osgood 

 Curator, Department of Zoology 



Through the cooperation of the John G. 

 Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum has been 

 enabled to obtain specimens of the Florida 

 manatee in perfectly fresh, natural condition. 

 This has facilitated their preparation in an 

 unusually life-like manner and provided 

 material for an important addition to the 

 Hall of Marine Mammals (Hall N). Two 

 animals of this peculiar and little-known 

 species have served to form the subject of 

 an under-water scene 

 which takes an appro- 

 priate place in the 

 development of this 

 hall. 



The manatee almost 

 defies popular defini- 

 tion. It is a sirenian, 

 but sirenians as a 

 group have no other 

 vernacular name un- 

 less it be "sea-cow," 

 which conveys no 

 suggestion of their 

 relationships and 

 certainly none of their 

 appearance. Sirenians 

 are herbivorous, and, 

 since they are mam- 

 mals, they give milk; 

 but, beyond this, 

 reasons for calling 

 them sea-cows are 

 hard to find. They 

 do not even live in the 

 sea exclusively, but 

 frequent fresh water 

 most of the time. 

 They are among those 

 relics of bygone ages 

 which have continued 



rinwn to nrpqpnt timpu Commonly known as s 



aown to preseni iimes ^^^ ^^ ^^^ j„ ^^j. jj^n g, 

 long after their near 



kindred have disappeared. Extant sirenians 

 include, besides the manatee of Florida and 

 the Gulf coast, a very similar if not identical 

 species in the West Indies, another in the 

 large rivers of South America, and still 

 another in Africa. In addition, a very 

 distinct but quite related animal, the 



dugong, inhabits the shores of the Indian 

 Ocean. Within historic times a very large 

 species called Steller's sea-cow was found in 

 northern waters about small islands in Bering 

 Sea. This was at once exterminated by its 

 discoverers. 



Owing to their fish-like form and their 

 aquatic habits, in conjunction with some 

 anatomical characters, the sirenians were 

 long regarded as somewhat related to whales, 

 but recent information obtained through 

 study of extinct forms points rather unex- 



Florida Manatees 



?a-cows, these animals are among the most curious mammals 

 Marine Mammals. 



pectedly to elephants as their nearest 

 relatives among modern mammals. They 

 are, like whales and seals, descended from 

 land mammals and in their adaptation to 

 aquatic life have lost all superficial resem- 

 blance to their ancestors. 



The Florida manatee is a slow-moving. 



inoffensive animal living in fresh, brackish, 

 or salt water at moderate depths where it 

 finds an abundance of water plants which 

 form its entire subsistence. One of these 

 has come to be known as "manatee grass." 

 The animal feeds under water, coming to 

 the surface only to breathe and never 

 appearing on land. It has no external ears 

 and its eyes are very small. Its lips are 

 very deeply cleft and furnished with heavy 

 bristles which assist in cropping its food. 

 It reaches a length of about thirteen feet, 

 and a weight of as 

 much as 1 ,200 pounds. 

 Manatees are cap- 

 tured by spearing with 

 heavy harpoons or by 

 the use of strong rope 

 nets. At times they 

 have been sought 

 especially for their 

 flesh, which is reputed 

 to be excellent. It is 

 light-colored, and both 

 in appearance and 

 flavor is said to resem- 

 ble lean fresh pork. 

 The extinction of the 

 American manatee was 

 threatened some years 

 .J ago, but some protec- 

 ~% tion is now afforded it 

 and possibly it will be 

 able to maintain itself, 

 at least in certain 

 restricted localities. 

 >»*iiiSB The specimens in 



the Museum's group 

 were prepared by Staff 

 Taxidermist Leon L. 

 Walters, assisted by 

 Edgar G. Laybourne. 



„, The background is by 



mhab.tmg water. They j^eon L. Pray. The 



method used with the 

 animals is that so successfully employed else- 

 where in the Museum for reptiles and hairless 

 or nearly hairless mammals. By this method 

 the skin is reproduced in a celluloid-like 

 material in such a way as to preserve the 

 finest details of texture and exact shades of 

 color. 



RAYMOND FOUNDATION PRESENTS 

 PROGRAM BY INDIANS 



Through the courtesy of The American 

 Indian Villages at A Century of Progress, 

 Field Museum is enabled to present for chil- 

 dren a special program of songs, dances, and 

 games, participated in by men, women, and 

 children of several tribes, including the 

 Navaho and the Hopi. This program, which 

 will be given in the James Simpson Theatre 

 of the Museum, on Saturday morning, 

 September 30, has been arranged under the 

 provisions of the James Nelson and Anna 

 Louise Raymond Foundation for Public 

 School and Children's Lectures. There will 

 be two performances, one at 10 a.m., and 

 one at 11, so as to make it possible for 

 several thousand children to attend. One 



of the Indian chiefs is to be featured on the 

 program in imitations of birds' songs. 



Admission is free, and children from 

 all parts of Chicago and suburbs are invited 

 to attend. No tickets are required. 



Museum Honors Geneva Scientist 



In recognition of the important assistance 

 he has rendered to Field Museum in carrying 

 out its botanical work in its joint project 

 with the Rockefeller Foundation, the Board 

 of Trustees of the Museum has elected 

 Dr. B. P. Georges Hochreutiner a Corre- 

 sponding Member of this institution. This 

 is a class of membership, bestowal of which 

 is restricted to scientists or patrons of 

 science residing in foreign countries who have 

 rendered eminent service to the Museum. 



Dr. Hochreutiner is Director of the Con- 

 servatoire et Jardin Botaniques at Geneva, 

 Switzerland. Through his cooperation the 

 important collections of type specimens of 

 plants in that institution were made available 

 for photographing for the Rockefeller 

 Foundation-Field Museum project. 



Rare Porphyry from Norway 



A rare kind of porphyry called rhom- 

 benporphyry is found in Oslo, Norway, and 

 seldom if ever elsewhere. Johan Eriksen, 

 a citizen of Oslo, recently collected, without 

 solicitation from the Museum, a specimen 

 of the porphyry, shaped it to standard size 

 and shape for exhibition, and sent it as a 

 gift to the Museum. It now appears in the 

 rock collection in Hall 35. 



