Descriptions of East Asiatic Mammals 199 
viduals, Lake Tungting is connected, at least during periods 
of high water, with the Yangtse River; consequently Lipotes 
may well be found sometimes in that river. 
The Ganges River Dolphin, Platanista gcmgeticus, prob- 
ably the most specialized of the few surviving platanistids, is 
found today only in and near the Ganges and Indus river sys- 
tems of India. The color is dark gray. The snout is long and 
compressed. The mouth is armed with numerous strong teeth, 
the number of which on each side is usually one or two more in 
the lower jaw than in the upper : 28 to 32 in the upper jaw, 30 
to 33 in the lower. The slightly vaulted forehead contains the 
peculiarly enlarged ''maxillary crests," fan-shaped bony proc- 
esses on the skull behind the beak. The blow-hole is median and 
longitudinal and the neck distinct (compare with most other 
Whales). The flippers are broad and abruptly truncated. On the 
back stands the merest suggestion of a dorsal fin. The length 
varies from 7 to 9% feet. Males are slightly smaller and have 
shorter snouts than females. This Dolphin is supposed to be a 
bottom-feeder; the food consists of prawns and fish. One or 
rarely two young are produced at birth. The gestation period is 
about nine months. The nipples are close to the vent. 
THE TRUE DOLPHINS (FAMILY DELPHINID^) 
This primarily marine family can be distinguished from the 
River Dolphins by a combination of characters, including the 
lack of an extremely long muzzle or "beak"; certain internal 
characters such as the tendency for the bones of the neck to be- 
come consolidated (except Monodan and Delphinapterus) ; the 
shortness of the symphysis of the lower jaws, even in those 
Dolphins with rather long beaks; the posterior profile of the 
skull. 
When True wrote his monograph of the Delphinidae, he dis- 
tinguished the subfamilies Delphininse, or Dolphins and Por- 
