PIIOCID^ 199 



forward by the fore feet used simultaneoirsly, the hind feet being 

 dragged along inactive. In swimming the hind feet ("flippers") 

 do most of the work. 



Subfamily Cystophorinae 



Incisors 2 — i ; first and fifth toes of hind foot longer than 

 the other three and with rudimentary or no claws ; interorbital 

 region but moderately constricted. 



Genus Mirounga Gray. (Australian native name.) 

 Molariform teeth small, single rooted, not lobed ; skuh com- 

 paratively narrow ; adult male with a nasal proboscis capable of 

 voluntary elongation and dilation ; webs of hind feet extending be- 

 yond the toes ; adult males very large, the females much smaller. 

 Dental formula, I, 2 — i ; C, i — i ; P. 4 — 4; M, i — 1X2=30. 



Mirounga angustirostris Ctill. (Narrow — beak.) 



CALIFORNIA ELEPHANT SEAL. 



Light dull, yellowish brown, varied with gray, darker on the 

 back; more yellowish ■ below ; hind flippers hairy, without nails, 

 deeply notched; foreflippers armed with long nails. 



Length of adult males twelve to eighteen feet, the proboscis 

 about fifteen inches in length ; adult females are seven to ten 

 feet in length and are without a proboscis. 



Type locality, San Bartolome Bay, Lower California. 



California Elephant Seals were formerly found along nearly 

 the whole western coast of Lower California and north along 

 the California coast to Point Reyes. It is probable that the 

 species is now exterminated in the waters of this State, but a few 

 may still survive about some of the outer islands of the Santa 

 Barbara group. A very few are known to be still living on the 

 Lower California coast. 



California Elephant Seals seem to have frequented rocky 



