ERIGNATHUS BARBATUS BEARDED SEAL. 655 



spaced, slightly implanted, early becoming defective by attri- 

 tion ; partly deciduous in old age. Palatal area broad, ellipti- 

 cal, deeply emarginate posteriorly; uarial septum incomplete. 

 Lower jaw short, small, the rami outwardly convex. Scapula 

 with no acromion process. Iliac crests not abruptly everted 

 and produced. Middle digits of the manus longest. Mammae 4. 

 In respect to the general form of the skull, Erignathus differs 

 from P/iom in the great height of the skull at the anterior border 

 of the frontals. It differs also in the great breadth, arched form, 

 and elliptical outline of the palate, and in the great depth of 

 the narial fossaj. Although its single species is still commonly 

 placed in the genus Fhoca, other osteological characters, espe- 

 cially the absence of the acromion process of the scapula and 

 the slight eversion of the iliac border of the pelvis, seem to 

 warrant its separation. Although the animal attains to a large 

 size, the teeth are weak, and in young specimens, or before 

 they have become modified by attrition, are not longer antero- 

 posteriorly, though rather thicker, than in Phoca fcetida, and 

 are consequently several times smaller than in Phoca vitulina. 

 The first, second, and fifth upper molars are 2-pointed, only the 

 posterior accessory cusp being developed ; the third and fourth 

 are 3-pointed, also without an anterior cusp. All the lower 

 molars are 3-pointed, there being an accessory cusp both in 

 front of and behind the principal cusp. Quite early in life the 

 teeth become much worn, and in old age the crowns of the three 

 middle molars become often wholly worn away, leaving only 

 the fangs, and even these sometimes in part disappear. Mr. 

 KumUen states that "in many adults the teeth can almost 

 be plucked out with the fingers," so slight is their attachment. 



ERIGNATHUS BARBATUS {Fahricius) Gill. 



Bearded Seal. 



Phoca larbata, Fabricius, Muller's Zool. Dau. Prod., 1776, viii ; Fauna 

 Grcenl., 1780, 15; Skriv. Nat. Selsk., i, 1790, 139, pi. xiii, fig. 3. 

 Erxxeben, Syst. Reg. Auim., 1777, 590. Gmelin, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 

 65. Kerr, An. King., 1792, 126. Shaw, Gen. Zool., i, 1800. J. 

 Ross, Ross's 1st Voy., App., 1819, xli. Desmarest, Mam., 1820, 

 246, 378. "NiLSSOX, Skand. Faun., i, 1820, 374 ; K. Yet. Akad. 

 Handl., Stockholm, 1837, " ; Wiegmann's Arch. fiirNaturg., 1841, 

 317; Skand. Fauna Diiggdj., 1847,294. ''Thienemann, Reise im 

 Norden von Europa, etc. , i, 1824, 23, pi. i (ad. female), pi. ii (male of two 

 years), pi. iii (male of one year), pi. iv (skulls).*' Richardson, 

 Parry's 2d Voy., Suppl., 1825, 335. Harlan, Faun.Amer., 1825, 111. 



