SKULL AND TEETH OF ENHYDRIS LUTRIS. 331 



black, and in every respect more perfect th^ those which are 

 taken in the summer and autumn. The male Otter is beyond 

 all comparison the more beautiful than the female and is dis- 

 tinguished by the superior jetty colour, as well as velvety 

 appearance of his skin ; whereas the head, throat and belly of 

 the female, are not only covered with fur that is white, but 

 which is also of a very coarse texture. The skins in the highest 

 estimation are those which have the belly and throat plentifully 

 interspersed with a kind of brilliant silver hairs, while the 

 body is covered with a thick black fur of extreme fineness, and 

 a silky gloss." 



Among other earlier descriptions, that of Dr. Pallas, mod- 

 estly styled "ad complementum Stellerianse", in delicate com- 

 pliment to the previous traveller, may be cited in illustration 

 of some of the more infrequent variations. Pallas speaks of a 

 specimen from Kodiak, which was yellowish- white, shaded on 

 the back with gray {e flavescenti-alba^ medio dorso grysea nebula 

 eriumhrato). The old animal, he says, is glossy black, with 

 somewhat reddish under fur, and often over five feet long; the 

 young are rather dark grayish. 



Description of the skull and teeth,* (See Plates XIX, XX.) 



With a general resemblance to that of Lutra^ the skull of the 

 Sea Otter differs not only in its superior size, but in its massive- 

 ness, depth, breadth behind, truncation anteriorly, and several 

 details which will appear in the sequel. There is a general 

 condition which would suggest, in common parlance, such terms 

 as <'huge", "bulky", "misshapen", and a superficial likeness to 

 the skulls of some of the Pinnipedia, with which the Sea Otter 

 is intimately associated in its mode of life. 



As evidenced by the sutures in some very young skulls before 

 me, the disposition of the several bones is much as in Lutra, 

 but there are some peculiarities. The malar bone is, as it were, 

 shifted bodily backward; it reaches to the glenoid fossa, and, 

 in fact, just misses a share in the articulation of the lower jaw, 

 while in front it stops altogether short of the bridge over the 

 anteorbital foramen, which is thus circumscribed only by a very 

 slender rod from the maxillary. The intermaxillary bones are 

 so short and deep as to be almost vertical; their apices merely 



*The osteology of this species has been specially studied by Martens (P. Z. 

 S. 1836, 59) and Gervais ( Journ. de Zool. iv. 1875, 200-206). Gerrard gives the 

 vertebral formula as C. 7; D. 14; L. 6; S. 3; Cd. 18. 



