238 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [ November, 1905. 
32. Notes on the Species, Hxternal Characters and Habits of the 
Dugong.—By N. Awnnanpatz, D.Sc., Deputy Superintendent 
of the Indian Museum. {With three plates. ] 
The present communication is largely of the nature of a pre- 
liminary notice. Later I hope to offer to the Society a memoir on 
the anatomy of certain organs and structures in the Dugong, 
which will be based partly on the specimen whose measurements 
are given below, and partly on the fine collection of Indian and 
Australian skulls and other bones already in the Indian Museum. 
At present I feel confident in stating (with four fully adult Indian, 
two fully adult Australian, and parts of three immature Indian 
skulls before me) that the individual variations among Indian 
specimens are at least as great as those which were believed by 
Owen to constitute a specific difference between Indian and 
Australian species. Skeletons of the Dugong exhibit very great 
differences (not solely connected with sex and age) inter se, and 
these cannot be specific, as they are not constant even in a series 
from the same seas. Owen’s Halicore australis, therefore, must 
be relegated, as most recent mammalologists have thought pro- 
bable, to the synonomy of HA. dugong.! 
In the summer of 1905, I was deputed by the authorities of 
the Indian Museum to visit the northern part of the Gulf of 
Manaar, in order to obtain a complete skeleton and skin of an 
Indian specimen of the Dugong, the only skins hitherto in the 
collection, and the most nearly perfect skeleton, having been 
obtained from Queensland in exchange with the Brisbane 
Museum. . Thanks largely to the kind offices of the Rey. A. D. 
Limbrick, of Ramanad, I was so fortunate as to obtain a fine 
male, the external characters of which are described below :— 
Dimensions— 
1 Length to tip of tail ... veo ft eOmmmua 
2 Length to extremity of fluke Pree! reed tI) 
3 From posterior border of anus to tip 
of tail 65 Pes Wrrimieen S . 
4 From anterior border ‘of anus to 
genital opening win gl eS 
5 Length of flipper wea ace eet i, 
6 Width of flipper : HO 5 
7 Breadth of fluke (injured at one 
extremity ) Boe foe LORIE 
8 Height of facial disk gees 00 8 
9 Breadth of facial disk LL 
10 Length of upper lip (upper jaw pad) 63 ,, 
1 Strictly speaking, the specific name should be duyong, in accordance 
with the Malay; but the incorrect form is so well known that it seems 
better not to change it. 
