igii. SCHARFF. — Some Notes on Irish Seals 43 



Seal {Phoca foetida). According to Mr. Lydekker^ this 

 species has only twice been observed off the coasts of the 

 British Islands, once on the Norfolk coast in 1846, and 

 again on the Lincolnshire coast in 1889. The Irish specimen 

 was taken alive in Gal way Bay in 1895 and lived in the 

 Dublin Zoological Gardens for some time without any one 

 suspecting that we possessed an example of this rare seal, 

 which is a native of the coast of Greenland, Labrador and 

 the Arctic Ocean. In its shape there is really little to 

 distinguish it from the Common Seal. The fact that the 

 Ringed Seal has somewhat longer limbs and tail, narrower 

 head and more pointed snout is not readily noticeable. 

 Nor can anyone be expected to observe at a glance that 

 the inner or first claw of the forelimb is a little longer than 

 the other claws, while in the Common and in the Grey Seal 

 it is a trifle shorter than the second. The claws of the 

 Ringed Seal are straight and somewhat flattened from 

 above downward. In the Common and Grey Seals they 

 are compressed laterally and slightly curved. 



The newly-born Ringed Seal possesses the white coat 

 like the others and is said to retain it for a month.^ This 

 would therefore form a ready feature of distinction between 

 the two species. But what is the most striking external 

 character is the colour of the fur. In the water it would 

 not be readily noticeable, but in the dry state the fur shows 

 that there are a number of light oval rings surrounding 

 darker spaces. When the fur is touched we notice another 

 difference. The fur of the Ringed Seal feels harsh, and it 

 seems that this harshness is due to the fact of the fur being 

 composed of two qualities of hair, of thick straight hairs and 

 thinner slightly curved ones, while in the soft fur of the 

 Common Seal the hair is all of the same density. The 

 total length of the adult Ringed Seal is about the same as 

 that of the Common Seal, from four to five feet. 



The skull of the Ringed Seal differs in several important 

 respects from that of the Common Seal. The partition 

 between the eye-sockets is much thinner in the former, and 

 the premaxillary bones run to and touch the nasal bones, 

 whereas they do not touch the nasal bones in the Common 

 Seal. If we turn over the skull and look at the lower 



' Lydekker, R., " Handbook of British Mammalia,'' London, 1895. 

 Allen, J. A., '• North American Pinnipeds," Washington, 1880. 



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