io6 CARNIVORES, 



found in the Arctic, Antarctic, and Temperate zones, many of them being 

 exclusively Arctic or Sub-Arctic, while one is as entirely Antarctic. And whereas 

 the walruses are restricted mainly at the present day to the Northern regions, the 

 other two families are well represented on both sides of the Equator. Most of the 

 true or earless seals are confined to the colder latitudes, and generally produce 

 their young on the ice. 



THE EARED SEALS. 



Family OlARIID^. 



Genus Otaria. 



The eared seals form a well-marked family, which tends to connect the other 

 and more specialised representatives of the group with ordinary terrestrial Carni- 

 vores. In the first place, their hind-limbs are decidedly less modified; all the 

 eared seals, as is well shown in the illustration on p. 103, being characterised by 

 having, when on land, the hind-flippers turned forwards under the body in the 

 direction of the head, so that they aid in the support of the trunk in the ordinary 

 manner. They derive their distinctive title from the presence of a small but well- 

 defined external ear ; and by these two characters an eared seal may always be 

 distinguished at the first glance from all the other members of the group. They 

 are further characterised by having the soles of both the fore and hind-feet entirely 

 devoid of hair. 



These animals also have well-marked necks, and their fore-feet are nearly as 

 long as the hind ones. In the fore-feet the toes decrease in length from the first to 

 the fifth, and have merely rudimentary claws; while in the hind-feet the three 

 small middle toes generally have better developed claws, while the lateral pair are 

 quite clawless. In both fore and hind-feet the skin extends considerably in advance 

 of the tips of the toes, where it terminates in flaps. Usually there are thirty-four 

 teeth, but sometimes, owing to the presence of a second pair of molars in the upper 

 jaw, there may be thirty-six. There are always three pairs of incisor teeth in the 

 upper, and two in the lower jaw. 



The eared seals include the animals commonly known as sea-lions and sea- 

 bears ; -and some of them furnish the " sealskin " of commerce. This sealskin is 

 the under-fur, from which the long hairs of the outer coat have been removed ; 

 and such species as possess this under-fur are consequently termed fur-seals. 

 Those species, on the other hand, which have only the ordinary close coat of hair, 

 without any woolly under-fur, are commonly termed hair-seals; and their com- 

 mercial value is limited to the oil and leather which they yield. In regard to the 

 number of species of eared seals, and likewise as to whether they should all be 

 included in a single genus (Otaria), or referred to two or more genera, there have 

 been much discussion and difference of opinion. Writing in 1880 Mr. J. A. Allen 

 put down the number of definable species as nine, of which five are hair-seals and 

 four fur-seals. In the present work the whole of these will be included under the 

 single generic title of Otaria ; but an alternative plan is to restrict that name to 



