PORPOISES AXD DOLPHIXS. 4 i 



More remarkable, however, is the occurrence of another nearly-allied form 

 (Iibiopgis) in the Tertiary of the Caucasus, which serves to confirm the view that 

 the Platanistidce were a very ancient and widely-distributed family. Numerous 

 other extinct dolphins, some of which approach those of the next family, have been 

 described from North America and Europe, and referred to the present group. 



The Porpoises and Dolphins. 



Family l>ELrinxil>.E. 



The whole of the remaining members of the existing Cetacea, including those 

 commonly known as narwhals, porpoises, grampuses, and dolphins, are referred to 

 a single family, which contains a Ear greater number of species than any of the 

 others. AH the members of this family are of small or medium size, and, witli the 

 exception of the narwhal and Risso's dolphin, are Furnished with a numerous series 

 of teeth in both the upper and lower jaws, the jaws themselves being either 



SKELETON - OF DOLPHIN. 



elongated or short. They are distinguished from the preceding family by the 

 union between the two branches of the lower jaw being always considerably less 

 than half the entile length of the jaw itself, and likewise by the manner in which 

 the ribs are articulated to the backbone, as well as by certain features in the base 

 of the skull. The vertebrae of the neck are generally characterised by the first 

 two, three, or four being united together. The blowhole is always in the form of a 

 transverselj'-placed crescent, with its two horns directed forwards. 



The majority of the dolphins (as it is convenient to term 



Habits. . 



collectively the whole of the members of the family) are of marine 

 habits, but many of them frequent estuaries and ascend tidal rivers, while a few 

 are more or less exclusively fresh-water. They have been divided into a considerable 

 number of genera, but many of these are very closely allied, and mainly distinguished 

 by differences in the skeleton. 



The Narwhal. 



Genus Mono/Jim. 



The strange-looking animal commonly known as the narwhal (3Ionodon 

 monoceros) differs from all other members of the family by the enormous spirally- 

 twisted tusk projecting from one side of the upper jaw of the male. This tusk is 

 nearly always that of the left side, its fellow on the opposite side being only a few 

 inches in length, and lying entirely concealed within the bone of the jaw, while in 



