THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



271 



These skulls of very ancient fossil whales, 

 have the blowhole, or nostril, in a very peculiar 

 place, about half way along on the top of the 

 snout. The nasal bones are marked Nas. in 

 the lower picture and are still in the form of 

 flat plates, but a comparison of these skulls 

 with that of a dog will show that these bones 

 have moved back, and instead of lying over 

 the nostril, are behind it. The upper skull 

 has [exactly the same number of teeth as a 

 dog. 



VAiter E. Fraa.i a'td O. Abel. 



related monster named Kekenodon have 

 been unearthed in New Zealand. 



The Tasmanian fossil belongs to a 

 primitive group called the Squalodonts 

 (or shark toothed whales). A group 

 of these Avith very long snouts was very 

 abundant at one time in the seas of 

 Europe and America and have left 

 many skulls and teeth in the marine 

 fossil beds of these countries. None 

 of these long-snouted forms have been 



found in the Southern Hemisphere. 

 The fossil whose cast is shown in the 

 xA.ustralian Museum is much shortened 

 in the muzzle. Two skulls of a closely 

 related animal have been found in 

 Patagonia so that these small but fierce 

 carnivorous whales probably roamed 

 the Southern Seas of that period. 



The greatest light on the origin of 

 whales, however, has been shown by 

 discoveries in a district called the 



