Vol. 7, No. 25, pp. 465-495, 15 text figures Issued January 22, 1914 



THE PROBLEM OF AQUATIC ADAPTATION 

 IN THE CARNIVORA, AS ILLUSTRATED 

 IN THE OSTEOLOGY AND EVOLUTION 



UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 



BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 



GEOLOGY 



OE THE SEA-OTTER 



BY 



WALTER P. TAYLOR 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Introduction 466 



Material and Acknowledgments 467 



History of the Literature 469 



Distribution and Classification of Latax 470 



Distribution 470 



Classification and Relationships 470 



Nature of the Characters Separating Latax and Lutra 473 



Differential Characters, Osteological and Dental, Apparently Belated 



to Aquatic Adaptation 473 



Characters Apparently not Related to Aquatic Adaptation 475 



Osteology and Dentition of Latax 476 



Skull 476 



Dentition 478 



General Characters 478 



Carnassials 479 



Tentative Suggestions as to Evolution of Dentition 480 



Neck and Trunk 481 



Tail 482 



Vertebrae 483 



General Characters 483 



Sacrum 484 



Chevron 484 



Relation of Vertebral Characters to Aquatic Adaptation 485 



Scapula 485 



