THE SEAL TEIBB IN GENERAL. 33 



B.— THE SEALS AND WALRUSES. 



Note. — The following biographies of the Seals and Walruses are, by the permission of the author, 

 J. A. Allen, extracted from the " Monograph of the Pinnipeds of I>rorth America." It is considered 

 important to present in this Report, in a form convenient for reference, biographies of all the im- 

 portant aquatic animals of the United States ; and since it is manifestly impossible to secure from 

 any other source so complete and reliable a discussion of the Seals as that given by Allen, it has 

 been thought allowable to reprint the biographical portion of his monograph. The material is here 

 published in such a different form, being divested of the great mass of technical matter, interesting 

 chiefly to zoologists, with which it was originallj^ surrounded, that it is to all intents a fresh pre- 

 sentation of the subject. 



The Biography of the Walruses has been condensed and rewritten by Mr. Goode, during the 

 ill-health and absence of Mr. Allen, the discussions in the monograph being too extended for the 

 needs of this Report. For an exceedingly interesting biography of these most interesting. animals 

 tbe reader is referred to Mr. Allen's more detailed work ' 



17. THE SEAL TRIBE IN GENERAL. 



The Pinnipeds, or Pinnipedia, embracing the Seals and Walruses, are commonly recognized by 

 recent systematic writers as constituting a suborder of the order Ferm, or Carnivorous Mammals. 

 They are, in short, true Garnivora, modified for an aquatic existence, and have consequently been 

 sometimes termed ^^ Amphibious Garnivora." Their whole form is modified for life in tbe water, 

 which element is their true home. Here they display extreme activity, but on land their move- 

 ments are confined and labored. 



The existing Pinnipeds constitute three very distinct minor groups or families, differing quite 

 widely from each other in important characters : these are the Walruses, or Odobcenidw, the Eared 

 Seals, or Otariidce, and the Earless Seals, or Phocidce. The first two are far more nearly allied than 

 are either of these with the third, so that the Odobwnidw and Otariidw may be together contrasted 

 with the Phocidce. The last named is the lowest or most generalized group, while the others appear 

 to stand on nearly the same plane, and about equally remote from the Phocidw. The Walruses 

 are really little more than thick, clumsy, obese forms of the otarian type, with the canines enor- 

 mously developed, and the whole skull correlatively modified. The limb-structure, tbe mode of 

 life, and the whole economy are essentially the same in the two groups, and aside from the cranial 

 modifications presented by the Odobcenidce, which are obviously related to the development of the 

 canines as huge tusks, the Walruses are merely elephantine Otariids, the absence or presence of 

 an external ear being in reality a feature of minor importance. 



The Pinnipeds present a high degree of cerebral development, and are easily domesticated 

 under favorable conditions. They manifest strong social and parental affection, and defend their 

 young with great persistency and courage. They are carnivorous (almost without exception), 

 subsisting upon fishes, mollusks, and crustaceans, of which they consume enormous quantities. 

 The Walruses and Eared Seals are polygamous, and the males greatly exceed the females in size. 

 The ordinary or Earless Seals are commonly su[)posed to be monogamous, and there is generally 

 little difference in the size of the sexes. The Walruses and Eared Seals usually resort in large 

 numbers to certain favorite breeding grounds, and during the season of reproduction leave the 

 water, and pass a considerable period upon land. The Earless Seals, on the other hand, with the 

 exception of the Sea Elephants, do not so uniformly resort to particular breeding grounds on land, 



' IKSO. Allbn, Joel Asaph : History of North American Piiiniptds; a raoucgrapb of the Walruses, Sea Lions, St-a 

 Bears, and Seals of North America. Washington, Goverumeut Printing Office, 1880, 800 pp., xvi, 785. Miscellaneous 

 publications. No. 12, U. S. Geol. & Geog. Surv., F. V. Hayden, Geologist in charge. 

 3 F 



