NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



period. Therefore, if this is so, the ancestors of 

 whales were carnivorous, and not herbivorous as 

 was previously thought. Lydekker thinks that 

 modern whales are the direct descendants of a 

 small, primitive and at present unknown Zeuglodont. 



Whales of one species or another are found in all 

 the oceans of the world, including the Arctic and 

 Antarctic Seas. 



The Cetaceans, which include Whales, Dolphins 

 and Porpoises are carnivorous, with the exception 

 of a Dolphin, which frequents the rivers of the 

 Cameroons on the West Coast of Africa, and which 

 is stated to be herbivorous. 



The Killer or Grampus Whale is a veritable tiger 

 of the ocean. It attacks, kills and feeds on other 

 species of whales and seals. This is the only Whale 

 which preys on warm-blooded animals. The others 

 feed on fishes, crustaceans, jelly-fish, squids, octopi, 

 pteropods, etc., according to their kind. 



In former times most species of whales associated 

 in " schools " or herds, and numerous instances are 

 on record of the solicitude of individual members of 

 a school to one another. 



When the young are about to be born, the whales 

 usually seek the shelter of some inlet or bay. One 

 calf is brought forth at a birth, but some Rorquals 

 produce two. The mother suckles her young with 

 milk from mammary glands after the manner of 

 other mammals, and the calf remains with her until 

 sufficiently large and strong to take care of itself. 



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