106 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



VOL. 73 



When one casually examines either a dissection of the animal itself 

 or of a series of drawings of a pinniped he will likely be struck by 

 the apparent vastness of the difference from what may be termed a 

 normal mammal, but this difference is not as great as it seems, and 

 a detailed study, muscle by muscle, will lead the investigator to the 

 opposite extreme and mildly astonish him that a mammal which 

 departs in many details so widely from the generalized type can 

 adhere so faithfully to the fundamental carnivore plan of myological 

 arrangement. The pinniped osteology is, of course, very specialized, 

 and the muscle attachments must synchronize accordingly, which is 

 the main reason why the musculature appears so complicated at 

 first sight. 



In the above table the origins of the Zalophus resemble those of 

 the Phoca in a few more instances than they differ, while the differ- 



