1909.] IN THE SOUTHERN SEA-ELEPHANT. 601 



conceivable that the same race may inhabit these two localities. 

 On the other hand, it is scarcely likely that Elephant-seals would 

 migrate from the Falklands to Tristan d'Acunha on the African 

 side of the South Atlantic ; and it is therefore pi'obable that the 

 representatives of the species from the latter island are racially 

 distinct. The same remai-k will apply to the Elephant-seals of 

 the Kerguelen, Crozet, and Heard groups in the south of the 

 Indian Ocean ; while yet another I'ace is probably represented 

 by those inhabiting the Macquarie and Chatham groups in the 

 Xew Zealand seas. 



The idea that there may be several local forms of Sea-elephant 

 is by no means new. It was adopted, for instance, by Dr. J. 

 E. Gray on page 180 of the fifth volume of " Griffith's Cuvier," 

 1827 ; the Macquarie Island form being designated ALj^rohoscidea, 

 Avhile the name Alacrorhina 'patagoiiica was proposed for the 

 Falkland race, and Desmarest's titles ansoni and hyroni wei'e used 

 respectively for the Sea-elephants from Juan Fernandez and the 

 Tinian Islands, the latter being in the Ladrone group, north of 

 Australia. Again, in the Monatshericht of the Berlin Academy 

 for 1875, J). 395, Dr. Karl Peters proposed the name falclandica 

 for the Falkland, and kerguehnsis for the Kerguelen lace. 



As regards these various names, it may be mentioned that the 

 Phoca leoninina of Linnfeus is based on a specimen brought from 

 Juan Fernandez by Lord Anson in 1744, which was exhibited for 

 many years in the British Museum. All that now remains of this 

 type-specimen is the anterior portion of the jaws, which is pre- 

 served in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, where it 

 Avas transferred in 1809 *. The s^jecimen is too incomplete to give 

 any idea of the distinctive skull-characters of the typical Juan 

 Fernandez race. 



Of this race, namely M. leoninus typicus, Peron's Phoca jjrohos- 

 cidea and Desmarest's ansoni are synonyms. 



With regard to Gray's patagonica, this was founded on a young 

 skull figured by F. Cuvier f, which is stated by Gray to be convex 

 Avith the brain-cavity more extended and the nasal region shorter 

 than in '•'■M. peronii" while the cutting-teeth number only -f. 

 This, owing to the immatiu-ity of the type, I regairl as an in- 

 sufficient descrij)tion. On the other hand, the falclandica of 

 Peters, based on the specimen figured in Pernetty's " Histoire 

 d'un Voyage aux Isles Malouines, fait en 1763 et 1764, avec des 

 Observations sur le Detroit de Magellan et sur les Patagons," 

 appears to be valid ; and the netiiie M. I. falclandica is therefore 

 available for the Falkland Sea-elephant, if this be distinct from the 

 typical race. The M. kerguelensis of Peters cannot be regarded 

 as more than a iiomen nudum, and the same is the case with 

 Desmarest's P. hyroni, even if an Elephant-seal occurs in the 

 Ladrones. There is also the Phoca elephantina of Molina, but 



* See Flower and Garson, "Cat. Osteol. Specimens, Mus. R. Coll. Surgeons," 

 pt. 2, p. 217. 



t Mem. Mus. Paris, iv. pi. xiv. fig. 2. 



