374 THE CARNIVORA 



following brief outline, attention will be drawn chiefly to certain 

 characteristics typical of each section. 



The most thoroughly aquatic of the Fissipedia are the Otters, 

 animals which, although quite capable of active and unembarrassed 

 movement on land, are yet perfectly at home only in the water. 

 In accordance with this mode of life, the toes are webbed and 

 provided with very short claws, and the tail is long, tapering, and 

 flattened so as to serve the precise purpose of the corresponding 

 appendage in a fish. The length of the head and body is about 

 two feet, that of the tail one foot five inches. The fur is a soft 

 brown colour, becoming lighter on the under side of the throat. 

 The skull is greatly elongated, and flattened from above downwards ; 

 the facial part of it is small as compared with the brain-containing 

 or cranial part. The region of the skull between the eyes is very 

 narrow, and its floor is wide and thin. In all these points, save 

 the first mentioned, the skull of the Otter approaches that of 

 the Seal. 



The Sea Otter differs in many important respects from the 

 Common Otter, and in all such points shows an approximation 

 to the structure of the seals. It is a large animal, about three 

 feet long, not counting the tail, which is about a foot more. Its 

 fur is dark brown, both on the upper and lower surfaces, and 

 presents a frosted appearance, owing to the fact that the long, 

 stiff hairs, which differ greatly from those of the under-fur, are 

 grey or colourless at the tip. The head is very short, the snout 

 naked, the eyes extremely small and placed low down on the 

 sides of the head, and the whiskers are short, but stout and stiff, 

 and mostly directed downwards ; altogether, there is something 

 very seal-like about the face. The fore-limbs and feet are small, 

 the paws rather cat-like in their rounded form, and the claws 

 are quite hidden by the hair. The hind feet, on the other hand, 

 are flat and expanded, being no less than six inches long by four 

 broad, and webbed like a duck's feet or a seal's flippers ; they 

 differ, however, from the seals in the fact that the toes increase 

 in length from the inner to the outer side. The Sea Otter is found 

 in the North Pacific, chiefly in the regions of Kamtschatka and 

 Alaska, and extends as far south as California. Owing to the value 

 of the fur the unfortunate animal is persistently hunted, and there is 

 every possibility of the species shortly becoming totally extinct. 



