GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 289 



more posteriorly, being in the adult at tlie posterior end of the 

 temporal fossa?, and in the young at the orbits. The breadth 

 of the skull just in front of the brain-box in very young skulls 

 (those taken a few days after birth) is 40 to 42 mm., in those 

 three or four months old, 38 mm. ; in adult females, usually 22 to 

 30 mm. ; in adult males, about 30 to 35 mm. The amount of con- 

 striction varies somewhat in adult skulls of the same sex, the 

 constriction increasing with the advance of age. There is a 

 corresponding contraction posteriorly of the palatal region. In 

 very young skulls, the palate is widest at the pterygoid ha- 

 muli ; in those a few months old it is nearly straight, but later 

 in life becomes narrowed posteriorly, the contraction being 

 greatest in aged specimens, in which the width at the pterj'goid 

 hamuli is a thml less than it is at the last molar. 



The crests of the skull do not begin to develop until the ani- 

 mal reaches adult size, and attain their highest development in 

 very old specimens. In a series of thirty skuUs, only two haf e 

 the crests remarkably developed, these ]3eing the two old male 

 skulls described by me in 1870.* In only one of the skulls of 

 the series, aside from the two above mentioned, are the teeth 

 much worn. The two very old skulls show, by their large size 

 and rugose character, that the deposition of bony matter is 

 continued to a very late period in life. 



Comparison with Allied Species. Zalophus californianus 

 is too distinct in cranial characters and dentition to require com- 

 parison with any of the Hair Seals of other genera, while its 

 pelage and color afford obvious points of difference from the 

 Fur Seals. As respects the conformation of the skull, it finds 

 its nearest allies in Arctocephalus, from which, however, it is 

 readily distinguished by its more elongated muzzle and dental 

 formula. It appears to closely resemble its congener, Z. lobatus, 

 both in size and color. Having no specimejis of that species 

 at command, I am unable to state the points of difference be- 

 tween the two. The descriptions and figures o^ Z. lohatus indi- 

 cate their close alliance. 



Geographical Distribution. The exact boundaries of 

 the habitat of Zaloplms californianus cannot at present be given. 

 The only specimens I have seen are from the coast of California 

 and its islands, from San Diego and San Nicolas Island north- 

 ward to the Bay of San Francisco. Captain Scammou (see 



* Bull. Mus. Conip. Zocil., vol. ii, j). 69; see measurements at p. 70. 



Misc. Pub. No. 12 19 



