332 mammalia: cete. — lt. 



long. L. 3i. E. 11. T. If. Va. to La.; other subspecies W. 

 (/liaxpdr, large; ovs, ear.) 



OuPER LI. CETE. (The Cetaceans.) 



Mammals of the sea, more or les.s fish-like in form, and adapted 

 for life in the o]>on ocean. Bones of the neck short, more or less 

 fused; posterior limhs wanting; pelvis rudimentary; anterior 

 limhs developed as broad, flattened paddles, -without distinct fingers 

 and without nails. Nostrils developed as spiracles, and opening 

 usually on top of head, thus enabling the animals to breathe with- 

 out raising the head from the water; eyes small; no external ear; 

 skin nearly or quite destitute of hair; tail ending in a broad hori- 

 zontal fin or paddle ; back sometimes with a dorsal fin. Skin thick 

 and tough; beneath it a thick layer of fat (blubber), which pro- 

 tects the animal from the cold. Species numerous; found in all 

 seas, some of them being the largest of all animals. The nearest 

 relationships of the whales are perhaps with the seals, among living 

 forms, but the differentiation is now very wide. Of the numerous 

 species occasionally straying to our coasts, the following seem prop- 

 erly to belong to our fauna. The nomenclature and analysis of 

 genera is chiefly taken from True's paper on " Collecting Specimens 

 of Cetaceans," in Kept. U. S. F. C. for 1883 published in 1885. I 

 have also made considerable use of MS. lists of species kindly 

 given me by Mr. F. W. True, and by the late Prof. Cope. The 

 nomenclature here adopted has been lately revised by Mr. True. 

 (KtJTos, whale.) 



Families of Cete. 



a. Upper jaw without wlialebnne; ppiraclos coalescrnt into one; lower jaw 

 much less thick tlian upper; skull unsynimetrical. (Denticete.) 

 b. Upper jaw with teeth (except in the adult of one genus); eye inserted 

 behind angle of mouth and not much ahove it ; snout more or less 

 sharp at tip; lower jaw with numerous (G to 120) teeth. 



Dklphinid.k, 191. 

 66. Upper jaw toothless; eye decidedly above angle of mouth. 



c. Lower jaw with 2 to 4 teeth, or apparently toothless; snout more or less 



sharp at tip Ziriiiin.K, 192. 



cc. Lower jaw with 18 to 50 teeth; snout not sharp, sometimes truncate 



at tip I'lIY.SKTKKID.K, 11).3. 



aa. Upper jaw with long strips of baleen or whalebone; no teeth; spiracles 

 separate; eye very small, close to angle of mouth, between mouth and 

 pectorals; lower jaw very thick and deep, nearly as deep as upper, 

 the cleft of mouth curved. (Afysticeie.) . . . BAL.ENtDJi, 194. 



Family CXCl. DELPHINID^. (Thk Dolphins.) 



Cetaci'ans with well (leveloi>eil teeth in both jaws (deciduous in 

 the upper jaw in one genus) and a single, somewhat complicated 



