The Sea-Otter 



301 



THE SEA-OTTER. 



Amongst our rarities we have in the Museum the skull of 

 a sea-otter (Latax hitris). This animal is a native of the 

 North Pacific Aleutian Islands (Behring Strait), and is 

 of great interest as a connecting link between the common 

 otter and a seal. His skin is very valuable, as he is rapidly 

 diminishing in numbers, and may soon be extinct. The same 

 circumstance gives increased interest to his skull, which pre- 

 sents also some noteworthy features. It is very short, con- 

 tains fewer teeth than that of the common otter, and its 

 molar teeth are remarkable for being very unlike those of 

 a carnivore. They are broad, massive, and present on their 

 surfaces low tubercles without any approach to the carnassial 

 type. This peculiarity probably has to do with the fact 

 that the animal feeds on fish, clams and crabs, which require 

 to be crunched rather than "cut to'pieces. They differ widely 

 from those of the seals. 



The sea-otter has its hind legs modified, like those of a seal, 

 to form flippers. It is fond of swimming on its back, and is 

 reputed to shade its eyes with one of its fore-paws. It eats 

 its food on its back, and the female will carry her young ones 

 on her chest swimming in that position. Its eye sockets are 

 placed low down in the sides of the skull (the reverse of those 

 of the hippopotamus). The teeth number only thirty-two, there 

 being eight on each side of both jaws. It has only four incisors, 

 whereas the true otter has six. Some seals have six and 

 others only four. In our skull they are beautifully white, and 

 not in the least worn. The animals, although very timid, 

 are sometimes easily clubbed by the native hunters, owing 

 to a habit of hiding the nose in the sea-weed on the rocks, 

 in order to protect them from the wind. They afford an 

 interesting example of peculiarities, both of structure and 

 habit, in connection with long isolation, for they have no near 

 relatives in other parts of the world. 



