412 FAMILY PHOCID^. 



FAMILY PHOCID^. 



EARLESS SEALS. 



Les Phoqiies nans oreilles ou Phoques proprement dits, BUFFON, Hist. Nat. 



Suppl., vi, 1782, 306. 

 Phocacea inauriculata, Perox, Voy. aux Terr. Aiistr., ii, 1810, 37, foot-note. 

 Phocido}, Gray, Ann. of Phil., xxvi, 1825, 340, in part, and also (in part only) 



of mimerous writers prior to about 1870. 

 Pliocidcc, "Brookes, Cat. Mas., 1828, 36"; Gill, Proc. Essex Inst., v, 



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



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



authors since 1870. 



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

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

 in terrestrial locomotion. Manus and i)es entirely hairy ; nails 

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

 iwrhynckince). 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 apj)ressed posteriorly for about one- 

 third of their length. Ilia short and broad, abruptly tm-ned 

 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 bulhe ; no alisphenoid canal. Au: 

 ditorj^ bullae greatly inflated. Incisors conical, variable in 

 number (^l, |^o5 oi" f^i)' I^ental formula: Milk dentition, I. 

 (variable, as in the adult, and probably of the same nuDiber), 

 C. J-5J, M. 1^3 ; Permanent dentition, I. ~l, l^;, or |^J, C. J^J, 



M. 1^^. 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 Fliocidcc was coexten- 

 sive with the suborder Pinnipedia. Although Peron in 181G 

 divided the Pinnipeds into Phocacea auriculatcv and Phocacea 

 inauriculatw, and although F. Cuvier in 1824 separated them 



