24 THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



exclusive of the tail. This creature looks as if it were on the 

 way to become a sea-lion, especially in the appearance of its head 

 and flipper-like hind-limbs. Its food differs entirely from that 

 of ordinary Otters, as the blunt crushing back -teeth suggest, 

 regarding which H. W. Elliott writes (in An Arctic Province]: 

 " Instead of being a fish-eater . . . it feeds almost wholly upon 

 clams, crabs, mussels, and echinoderms or 'sea-urchins', as 

 might be inferred from its peculiar flat molars ..." 



We have now passed in review the most important types of 

 the purely flesh-eating forms of the Terrestrial Carnivores or 

 FISSIPEDIA, and gained -some idea of their food and manner of 

 feeding. Before leaving them, a remark is necessary on the 

 powers of sense with which they are endowed. Many of them, 

 as the cat-like forms, have exceedingly acute vision, and their 

 forwardly-directed eyes enable them easily to see prey in front 

 of them. In many cases, too, considerable powers of hearing 

 are possessed, and in order that they may perceive sounds in 

 front of them the ears are usually forwardly directed, for it is 

 well known that the function of the external projection to which 

 the term " ear " is popularly applied has, as its chief function, 

 the determination of the direction from which sounds proceed. 

 Many Carnivores track their prey by means of the sense of smell, 

 and this is particularly true of the dogs and their allies. Otters, 

 too, are exceedingly well endowed in this respect. Nor must 

 the sense of touch be forgotten, to which the characteristic 

 " whiskers " largely minister. These structures are of the greatest 

 use in enabling an animal to perceive the presence of obstacles, 

 and to judge whether a noiseless passage can be made through 

 gaps in undergrowth and the like. Such knowledge is the more 

 important, since the terrestrial Carnivores pursue their prey chiefly 

 during the night, and in many cases even a slight noise would 

 be fatal to success. 



Several of the animals already mentioned are partly or entirely 

 aquatic in habit, but the members of the second great group of 

 Flesh-eating Mammals, i.e. the Aquatic Carnivores or PINNIPEDIA, 

 are highly specialized for life in the water. They include Seals, 

 Sea- Lions, and Walruses. 



In all these aquatic Carnivores the body is shaped so as to 

 promote rapid progression through the water (see vol. i, p. 99), 

 and this is especially true of the Seals proper, which approach 



