2 ON THE SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF ZEUGLODON. 
the tooth of the so-called Basilosaurus belonged to a mammal, and since JOHANNES 
MU ter published his great work upon the group,* naturalists have, almost without 
exception, connected them in some way or other with the Cetacea; some, like 
Branpt, placing them definitely within the Cetacean order; others, like HuxLey 
and Leipy, seeing in them a transition towards the Carnivores. One or two excep- 
tions only may be cited to the general rule: for instance, GreBEL (in the Fauna 
der Vorwelt, p. 220) and JouRDAN (Comptes rendus, 1861, p. 962) insist upon their 
affinities with the Pinnipedes; and MM. P. J. van BenepEN and P. Gervais, in the 
Ostéographie des Cétacés, though not in their preceding works, leave the Zeuglo- 
donts outside of the order Cetacea, without, however, assigning to them a definite 
position. But in England I know of no such exception: in our text-books, in 
the galleries and the catalogues of the British Museum, in the articles in the 
Encyclopedia Britannica, everywhere we find the Zeuglodonts intercalated among 
the Cetacea. t ; 
Naturally, the resemblance of the molar teeth of Zeuglodon to those of the 
Seals was recognized almost from the very first. We are all familiar with the 
typical molar of Zeuglodon, and I may simply call attention to the fact that its 
resemblance is a very superficial one even to that of Squalodon, which alone 
approaches it among the Cetacea. The canine and incisor teeth of Zeuglodon have 
no less definite resemblance to those of Seals, while the dental formula of Zeuglodon, 
according to Carus, FLower, and others, is72, ¢4, m2, the identical dental formula 
of Otaria. Even those who most warmly upheld the Cetacean nature of Zeuglodon 
have admitted these facts : and I may quote the following passage from BURMEISTER{ 
in illustration thereof :—‘< Mit diesem Gebiss, und zwar besonders mit dem der iichten 
Phocz, scheint nun der Zahnbau von Zeuglodon in allen Hauptpunkten iiberein- 
zustimmen. Uebersehen wir die bei Phoca stets einfach kegelférmige Schneideziihne, 
weil dieselben von Zeuglodon mir nicht bekannt sind, so ist, zuvérderst die Form- 
ihnlichkeit der Eckziihne total.” And as to the characters here referred to of the 
incisor teeth, their inadequacy is remedied and the resemblance confirmed by a 
figure in MUxuEr’s Monograph (PI. XXVI.), where the incisors are shown to be, 
as in the Seals, of simple conical form. 
But leaving then in the dentition what is at least a suggestion of aflinity to 
the Seals, with a special hint of likeness to Stenorhynchus and perhaps also to 
Otaria, let us examine the rest of the skeleton, seeking resemblances with the 
Pinnipedes. 
* Ueber die fossilen Reste der Zeuglodonten von Nord-Amerika. Fol. Berlin, 1849. 
} There remains one exception to cite, and that a very important one. The day before I communi- 
cated this paper to the Congress in Paris, M. Pau Fiscupr showed me in the galleries of Comparative 
Anatomy of the Muséwin Whistoire naturelle, Zeuglodont remains arranged in a cabinet devoted to 
the Pinnipedia. 
{ Bemerk. vi. Zeuglodon Cetoides. 4to. Halle, 1847. 
