108 



Otai'ia pusilla, Desm. N. Diet. xxv. 600. 



Otaria peronii, Desm. Mamm. 250, 382 ; Encyc. Method, t. 111. 

 f. 2, from BufFon. 



Loup-marin, Pages, Voy. aut. du Monde, ii. 32. 



Adult. 

 Otaria delalandii, F. Cuvier, Diet. Sci. Nat. xxxix. 423 ; Cuvier, 

 Oss. Foss. V. 220, t. 18. f. 15, skull. 



Phoca pusilla, part, Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 232. 



Hab. Cape of Good Hope. 



Cuvier (Oss. Foss. v. 220) observes that Delalande brought from 

 the Cape a young specimen 3 feet 6 inches long, of a reddish-grey 

 colour, the ends of the hairs annulated with grey and blackish, 

 rather paler beneath — the whiskers strong, simple, and black — the 

 feet black — the under-fur soft, woolly, — and two skeletons of young, 

 and the skull of an adult specimen. This skull is figured (Cuvier, 

 Oss. Foss. V. t. 18. f. 5) ; but unfortunately, the palate, which is the 

 most characteristic part of the skull, is not figured nor described. 

 The palate of the skull of the younger specimen is described thus : — 

 " Le palais est plus etroit, se porte plus en arriere et est echancre 

 par un angle plus aigu." 



Buffon notices a young Seal, which he calls the petit phoque 

 (vol. xiii. t. 53), on which the Phoca pusilla of Schreber and suc- 

 ceeding authors has been founded, which is probably the young of 

 this species. 



Daubenton states (Hist. Nat. xiii. 413) that the specimen figured 

 by Buffon came from India ; but it is probable that it was brought 

 from the Cape of Good Hope in a ship coming from India. No 

 Seal has as yet been described as inhabiting the coast of India. 



Fischer confounded with Phoca pusilla of Buffon a Seal from 

 Rottennest Island, on the eastern coast of Australia (Syn. Mamm. 

 232). 



As the British Museum has a good series of skulls of this genus, 

 I am induced to add the following synopsis of the species, charac- 

 terized by the peculiarities of the skull alone. 



I. Face of skull short. Forehead convex, regularly rounded fi-om 

 the end of the nasal bone to the middle of the vertex. Loiver 

 jaw short, thick. 



Arctocephalus ursinus. 



Arctocephalus ursinus. Gray, Cat. Phocidse B.M. 41, et P. Z. S. 

 anted, p. 103. 



Palate rather concave in front, narrowed and flattened behind, with 

 a deep narrow hinder aperture, which has a regular ovate front edge ; 

 outer upper cutting-teeth moderate ; orbit very large ; zygoma very 

 strong; grinders small. 



Hab. Behring's Straits. 



A skull of the adult male specimen here described, and from which 

 the figure (PI. LXVIII.) is taken. 



