4IO MAMMALIA 



Order X. Cetacea. — Aquatic with large head, fish-hke body, 

 thick hairless skin, pectoral limbs paddle-like, pelvic limbs absent, 

 horizontal caudal fin. So that animals may breathe while feeding, 

 the larynx is prolonged into a tube extending through the pharynx 

 to the choanae, from which the nostrils lead directly upwards to the 

 single or paired external opening. Sole organ of respiration, nose. 

 Eyes small, external ears lacking, mammae close to sexual opening. 

 Teeth either present in large numbers, similar and conical; or out- 

 lined early, then resorbed and replaced by large horny plates of 

 baleen (whalebone). 



Baleen whales are toothless, but have plates or strainers of 

 whalebone suspended from the upper jaw. The largest of the 

 baleen whales is the great sulphur-bottomed whale which may reach 

 a length of over one hundred feet. The " right whales^' also whale- 

 bone whales, produce excellent oil. The sperm whales have a narrow 

 beak-like lower jaw with heavy conical teeth arranged in a double 

 row. They reach a length of eighty feet and could have swallowed 

 Jonah. Ambergj'is^ used by druggists and perfumers, is formed in 

 the intestine of the sperm whale apparently as concretions around 

 the beaks of cuttlefish. It is worth about ten dollars per ounce. 

 (Figure 123-) Of the 27,566 whales caught in the season 1 928-1 929, 

 there were 13,650 blue whales. Nearly two million barrels of oil 

 were yielded. Whale meat is now used extensively for food in 

 Japan, but Norway leads all countries in whaling and caught nearly 

 15,000 in 1928-1929. 



The dolphin has a slender, cigar-shaped body, a small head and a 

 long narrow beak. It reaches a length of seven and one-half feet. 

 Teeth are present on both its jaws. The short-beaked dolphin found 

 in the Pacific Ocean is the most attractive in appearance. The 

 porpoise is jet black with a blunt head. It does not reach a length 

 greater than four and one-half feet, and rarely leaps from the water. 

 It feeds on herring and menhaden. (Figure 233.) 



The narwhal {Monodon monoderos^ reaches a length of sixteen 

 feet and the male has a long ivory canine tusk twisted from left to 

 right and extending from six to eight feet. The killer " whale " 

 {Orca) reaches a length of twenty feet and has a back fin from four 

 to six feet in height. It kills whales, seals and sea lions, using its 

 teeth as large as those of the largest whale. Hornaday mentions 

 one killer " whale " that captured and swallowed alive four small 

 porpoises. Another observer reported that a single Orca ate 



