240 



OAEiVIVORA 

 PINNIPEDIA. 



PHOCID.E. 



PHOCID^:. 



^■^^-.'<: 





Genus Phoca (Linngeus, 1766). 



Generic Chxiracter. — Head rounded, muzzle bald, brain-case of skull 

 large. Teeth, inc. % can. |:}, grinders i:|, tuberculated, the first with one 

 root, the rest with two. 



COMMON SEAL. 



Phoca vitulina (Linnaeus). 



Specific Character. — Spotted above with grey and black, whitish below. 

 Ascending processes of intermaxillaries truncated, not reaching the nasals or 

 touching them at one point only ; bony jialate acutely notched behind, 

 posterior jKilatine foramena opening on maxillaj. Molars crowded, placed 

 obliquely. Length of adult from three to five feet. 



Phoca vitulina. LiNN.i;us, Syst. Nat. I. 56 (1766). 



,, variegata. Nilsson, Skand. Fauna (1820). 



Calocephalus vitulinus. F. Cuvier, Diet. Sc. Nat. XXXIX, 544 (1826). 



Tang-fish (Shetland) ; Rawn {Hebrides) ; Sealch, Selkie (Scotland), Sea- 

 dog, Sea-calf, and Sea-cat (of Sailors). 



The distinguishing characteristics of this, the com- 

 monest European species of Seal, are at length well 

 determined. Of these, the oblique position of the 



