THE MARINE CARNIVORA i95 



of the United States, as Governments, care one particle about 

 zoology, or the saving from extinction of remarkable mammals 

 which can be slaughtered for ''sport" or commerce. 



Family: PHOCIDyE. THE TRUE SEALS 

 The Phocidse are a little less specialised in their teeth than the 

 sea lions and walruses. The upper incisors are not grooved as 

 they are in the Otariids, and the premolar teeth are proportion- 

 ately larger and have longer cusps. Both the hind and fore feet 

 are also less specialised than in the other two groups. In the 

 case of the fore feet of the True Seals, though the first finger is 

 the longest, the rest are more nearly equal to it in length than is 

 the case with the elongated flipper of the sea lions and walruses ; 

 in fact, it is more like the normal paw of a land Carnivore ; there 

 is more outer distinction between the 

 toes, the web does not protrude 

 beyond the tips of the claws, and 

 the claws are in most seals very well 

 developed, almost like the claws of a 

 bear. The hind flipper has the same •• --.__.,u^ ^ 

 feature as in the other two families, i 



of the fifth and first toes exceeding Premolars. Moiar. 



the other three inner ones in length premolars and molar, upper 



, 111 J Jaw, of Common Seal. 



and thickness, but the lobes do not 



extend appreciably beyond the nails on the five toes. On the 

 other hand, in the True Seals the hind feet cannot be brought 

 forwards as in ordinary mammalian progression ; they are always 

 turned back, and more or less closely adpressed against the short, 

 stumpy external tail ; in fact, the hind limbs of the True Seals 

 now serve just the same purpose as the flukes of a whale's tail. 



In the following points the True Seals are more specialised 

 than the sea lions and walruses : they have no outer conch to the 

 ear, and the nostrils open upwards, are placed, that is to say, on 

 the dorsal surface of the nose. The neck is very short, and the 

 True Seal's body is obviously more suited for existence in the 

 water than on shore. Owing to the impossibility of using the 



