412 FAMILY PHOCID2E. 



FAMILY 



EARLESS SEALS. 



Los Phoquea sans oreilles on Phoqnes proprement dits, BUFFON, Hist. Nat. 



Suppl., vi, 1782, 306. 



Phocacea inauriculata, PRON, Voy. aux Terr. Austr., ii, 1816, 37, foot-note. 

 Phocidce, GRAY, Ann. of Phil., xxvi, 1825, 340, in part, and also (in part only) 



of numerous writers prior to about 1870. 

 Phocidce, " BROOKES, Cat. Mus., 1828, 36"; GILL, Proc. Essex Inst., v, 



1866, 5. GRAY, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 4th ser., iv, 1869, 268, 



342, 344. ALLEN, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., ii, 1870. Also of most 



authors since 1870. 



Fore liinbs placed well forward; neck rather short ; hind limbs 

 not susceptible of being turned forward, and not capable of use 

 in terrestrial locomotion. Manus and pes entirely hairy ; nails 

 of all the digits usually well developed (rudimentary in Ste- 

 norhynchince). Digits of the manus subequal, usually decreas- 

 ing slightly in size from the first to the fifth ; of the pes the first 

 and fifth stouter than the three middle ones. Scapula small, 

 the superior posterior angle rounded, the crests small, and the 

 acromion process slightly developed. Femur with the trochan- 

 ter minor undeveloped. Pubic bones approximated in the fe- 

 males. and in the males appressed posteriorly for about one- 

 third of their length. Ilia short and broad, abruptly turned 

 outward and recurved anteriorly. Acetabula opposite first 

 sacral vertebra. Skull with the postorbital process generally 

 wholly undeveloped or rudimentary ; mastoid process swollen, 

 continuous with the auditory bullae ; no alisphenoid canal. Au- 

 ditory bullae greatly inflated. Incisors conical, variable in 

 number (J^? 2^2' or fei)* Dental formula : Milk dentition, I. 

 {variable, as in the adult, and probably of the same number), 

 0. J-5J, M. f5JJ 5 Permanent dentition, I. |=-J, f=?, O r g, 0. J-=J, 

 M. 5. No external ear. Testes enclosed within the body. 



TECHNICAL HISTORY. 



HIGHER GROUPS. As noticed in the history of the preced- 

 ing families, the group formerly termed Phocidce was coexten- 

 sive with the suborder Pinnipedia. Although Peron in 1816 

 divided the Pinnipeds into Phocacea auriculatco and Phocacea 

 inauriculatce, and although F. Cuvier in 1824 separated them 



