GENUS MONACHUS. 707 



Genus MO^N^AOHUS, Fleming. 



Monaclms, Fleming, Phil. Zool., ii, 1822, 187. 



Pelage [Pelagius^, F. CuviER, M6m. du Mus., xi, 1824, 193, 196, pi. xiii. 



Type, riioca monaclms, Hermann. 

 Pclafjius, F. CuviKR, Diet. Sci. Nat., xxxix, 1826, 550. 

 Heliophoca, Gray, Ann. ami Mag. Nat. Hist., xiii, 1854, pi. xiii (young). 



"Muzzle rather elougate, broad, liairy, witli a slight groove 

 between the nostrils ; whiskers small, quite smooth, flat, taper- 

 ing. Fore feet short ; fingers gradually shorter to the inner 

 one ; claws 5, flat, truncate. Hind feet hairy between the toes ; 

 claws very small ; hair short, adj)ressed, with very little or no 

 under-fur. Skull depressed ; nose rather depressed, rather elon- 

 gate, longer than the length of the zj^gomatic arch ; j)alate an- 

 gularly notched behind. Cutting-teeth |^, large, notched within, 

 the middle upper much smaller, placed behind the intermediate 



ones. Canines large, conical, sharp-edged. Grinders ~l, large, 



crowded, placed obliquely with regard to the central palatine 

 line ; crown large, conical, with several small conic rhombic 

 tubercles. Lower jaw angulated in front below, with diverg- 

 ing branches, the lower edge of the branches rounded, simple. 

 The grinders, except the two first in both jaws, are implanted 

 by two roots ; their crown is short, compressed, conical, with a 

 cingillum [sic] strongly developed on their inner side, and de- 

 veloping a small anterior and i)osterior accessory cusp ; the up- 

 per jaw is much less deej) than in Haliclioerus ; the canines are 

 relatively large, and the nasal bones are much shorter." Gray. 

 The genus Monaclms was placed by Gray, as late as 1866 and 

 previously, in the subfamily StenorhyncMnce. In 1871 he raised, 

 it to the rank of a distinct " tribe" {MonacJmia) or subfamily. 

 The single species usually referred to it the Mediterranean 

 Seal, Phoca monaclms, Hermann has even been placed by Wag- 

 ner, Giebel, and other German writers in the genus Leptonyx, 



En af de mserkeligste af disse Afvigelser er Tidspnnktet for dens Yngletid. 

 Denne indtrseffer nemlig i Norge om Hasten, efterat Individerue i Midteu af 

 September have samlet sig paa de bestemte Ynglepladse ; umiddelbart deref- 

 ter foregaar Ungens Kastning, i Regelen i den sidste Uge af Sej)tember." 

 Bemwrkninger til Norges Pattedyrfanna, 1876, p. 59. See also Lilljeborg's 

 "Fauna ofver Sveriges och Norges Ryggradsdjur," 1874, p. 702, where the 

 same is given in substance, and also Lilljeborg's note (note 2, p. 702) in ref- 

 erence to Fabriciua's and Malmgren's observations on the breeding season of 

 Phoca barhata, 



