SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 137 



to northern Australia and north to the island of Amami Oshima, 

 Luchu Islands. 



Sea Cows. Family Hydrodamalid^ 



The family Hydrodamalidag contains but one animal, the ex- 

 tinct Northern or Steller's Sea Cow {Hydrodamalis stelleri). 

 It was the largest of any of the Sirenia, reaching a length of 

 twenty-five to thirty feet. The sea cow was found only on 

 Copper and Bering Islands, off Kamchatka in the Bering Sea. 

 It was discovered by the explorer Behring in 1741 when he was 

 shipwrecked on the island which now bears his name. At that 

 time, the animal was abundant in the bays, but being large and 

 stupid, was so easily killed that in about twenty-five years after 

 its discovery the species had been exterminated. Occasional 

 bones are still found on these islands. 



Elephants. Order Proboscidea. 

 Family Elephantid^ 



The elephants of the present day are found only in Asia and 

 Africa. The African elephant is now put in a separate genus. 



The Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus) inhabits the for- 

 ested areas of India, Ceylon, Burma, Indo-China, Thailand, 

 Malaya, Sumatra, and a small section of northern Borneo. It 

 is believed that the elephant was brought to Borneo by man 

 and has again reverted to the wild state. The Indian elephant 

 has been domesticated for centuries. The bulls carry tusks of 

 appreciable size ; the females have very short ones that do not 

 protrude beyond the lips. The molar teeth of most mammals, 

 erupted successively, stand one behind the other in the jaw. 

 The enormous molars of elephants behave instead much as 

 though they were attached to the rim of a wheel. Each tooth, 

 as it moves fully into place, is subjected to great wear by the 

 tooth opposing it. It continues to move forward in the jaw. 

 When its successor is fully in place, the former one, worn down 

 to the roots, is shed. It is common to see in an elephant's jaw 



