96 OSTEOLOGICAL GALLERY. 



rior edge nearly straight, somewhat as in the Whales. The 

 Dugongs inhabit the coasts of the Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea 

 to Australia, living in shallow waters, and feeding, like the Mana- 

 tees, on sea- and river-weeds, but being on the whole more marine 

 in their habits, and taking more readily to deep water. 



Three species have been distinguished, namely Halicore taber- 

 naculi, the Red-Sea Dugong; H. dugong, the Indian; and H. 

 australis, the Australian species. A stuffed specimen of the Red- 

 Sea and a skeleton of the Indian species are placed in the Saloon, 

 and a series of skulls of the other forms in Case 23. 



(3) Rhytina, entirely without teeth, their place being taken by 

 rough horny plates ; snout moderately bent downwards ; flippers 

 short ; tail with two lateral flukes, as in the Cetacea. 



The only species of this genus is Steller's Sea-Cow (R. gigas), 

 which formerly in numbers inhabited the shores of the islands in 

 the neighbourhood of Behring Straits and Alaska. Its capture 

 was so easy that the process of its extermination was accomplished 

 within a short period after its discovery, towards the end of the 

 last century. Happily, before its final extermination, a German 

 naturalist in the Russian service, Steller, published an excellent 

 account of its anatomy and habits; so that it is nearly as well 

 known as its living allies. Many of its remains were discovered 

 during the voyage of the ' Vega ' in the region where it lived. A 

 nearly perfect skull, obtained from Behring Island, is placed in 

 Case 23, D. 



Steller's Sea-Cow was more than twice as large as either the 

 Dugongs or Manatees, attaining a length of about 25 feet; but its 

 habits were precisely similar. 



Fossil Sirenians are known as far back as the Middle Eocene, 

 the Eotherium a>gyptiacum having been found in Egyptian deposits 

 of that age. In later times the members of this Order, such as 

 HalitheriumjFelsinotherium, and others, were abundant in European 

 seas, and their remains occur fossil in considerable numbers in 

 Germany, France, and Italy : a single Miocene species has been 

 recorded from Suffolk. 



Order IX. CETACEA. 



(See Cetacean Gallery, p. 104.) 



