No. 4(;<.)] 



HI LOGY OF THE DUGONC 



tlnis t'()rci})ly hrouulit to UuhI, it may live 24 liours \\v was tol«l 

 l.y ol,| Kalnirv on I'alan. Tliis ol.scrvation is corrol.onitnl l.y 



(.n laiul. It a|.|H-ars tlu'ivforc tiiat the dii^rono^ has not hern 

 act^iallv observed to come out onto the hmd of its own accord, 

 and in our opinion sucli a procedure is out of the question since 

 the pectoral limbs are insufficient to enable the animal to do this. 

 In no wdse can it be estal)lished, as Brehm would have it, that 

 "one can at least assume that those dnyonf^s Unit have been seen 



to })ush their heavy bo(He> iiuo the water a^min, ])referrin<r rather 



of using their anterior limbs, even as supports, on (h-y land. The 

 po.ssibility still remains that they support themselves on their 

 flippers while gathering their food hi the water. But against 

 this supposition, in the first place, are their observed maimer of 

 feeding and the so called dugongs' tracks. In the second ])lace. 

 the difference in specific gravity between the animal's body and 

 the supporting medium, cannot, in view of the considerable mobil- 

 ity of the dugong, be such as to entail any great burden on the 

 limbs. Thirdly, the slender form of the appendages, their rela- 

 tively small size, and fitudly the uninjured epidermis on the parts 

 in (juestion, furnish evidence against their use as supports in the 

 water. Also in the case of the manatee, here adduced for com- 

 parison, the use of the flippers as organs of support is denied rather 

 than maintained. Moreover, Brandt cites three authors who 

 conclude from the manner of capturing the American manatee, 

 that it is incapal)le of getting l)ack to the water (bv the aid of the 

 limbs) if left up on the dry land. Carrod (77. ]). 189) says very 

 <leci(hNlly that hi> manatee seemed irhnlhj unahlr to movr rifhrr 

 jonrar/or hark,rar,l un thr lam/. It made use of tlie hinbs in 



tiiat their manate.^. swam .,nietlv about at the bottom of the a-pia- 

 rium uith the bodv sharplv bent and the hea.l an.l tail pointe<l 

 downwards. Xeiih,.,. a.ithor savs a uonl about their supporting 

 themselves on their flippers, and Murie figures the animal in 



