THE SEA ELEPHANT. 57 



seal in life, and if in other points also it can be shown to approach the Ofariidse, it 

 must be considered not one of the most highly specialised of the Phocidse, but one of 

 the less. And from it, as a connecting form, we may possibly draw suggestions as to 

 the affinities of other seals, some of which are without doubt closely connected with it. 



From this point of view it will be seen that there are other characters in addition 

 to its general family resemblance to the Otariidse, which indicate a closer con- 

 nection with them than can be argued for any other of the Phocidse. For 

 example : — While it is more at home in the water than on land, and its progression on 

 land is exceedingly clumsy, yet the Sea Elephant spends almost, if not quite, as much 

 time on shore as do the Sea-lions and Sea-bears. Almost precisely the same migrations 

 are common to both, depending as they do upon similar annual necessities, such as the 

 change of the winter coat, the birth of the young, the mating of the sexes, and so on. 

 In all these points the Sea Elephant is far more of the habit of the Otariidse than of 

 the Phocidse. Again the enormous difference in size between the male and the female 

 is paralleled nowhere in the group of Phocidse, though it is the rule in the Otariidse. 

 Whether this is connected in the same way with the polygamous habits that are seen 

 in the Otariidse, as opposed to the more indiscriminate methods of pairing which are 

 seen in the Phocidse, none of which appear to form so definite a harem, I cannot say, 

 nor do I know of any account which supplies evidence upon this point. 



The most specialised seals, i.e., those that have departed most from their land- 

 frequenting forebears, are those which have become least dependent upon land for any 

 part of their existence. 



No seal has yet taken to the production of its young in the water, though in some 

 species, Phoca vitulina, for example, the young seal is said to be able to take to the 

 water with safety at the moment of its birth, and there undoubtedly is a considerable 

 range among the various species of seals in the length of time that must elapse between 

 the birth of the young and its taking to the water. The shortest period must be a 

 mark of more advanced specialisation in the Phocidse, and in this respect Macrorliinus 

 cannot be included in their number. The longest period, on the other hand, is certainly 

 found in the Otariidse, and Macrorhinus appears to conform to their habit. Thus 

 taking first the Phocidse : — 



111 Lohodon carcinophagus, the young takes to water in about three days, its woolly coat being 



rapidly shed at birth. (Racovitza.) 

 In Leptonychotes weddelU, the young takes to water in a month, commencing to shed its woolly 



coat at the end of the first two weeks, and completing the moult in four. 

 In Phoca vitidina, we have the young taking to water at birth, having shed its whitish yellow 



woolly coat in vtero or on the day of its birth (according to Lloyd), or beginning to shed its 



white coat for a darker in three days (according to Macdonald). 

 In HalkJuerus (iri/ptts, the young is born in a thick white woolly coat, which is shed in four 



weeks, and the young then takes to water. Suckling is said to last from three to 



ten weeks. (Hallgrimssou.) 

 In Phoca groenlandica, the young is born in a yellowish-white wool, which is shed a few weeks after 



birth. It takes to water in from fourteen to twenty days. (Brown.) 



