42 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 68 



count of the State of Alaska. Among 1,000 available skins, 905 

 were considered acceptable for commercial use and were offered 

 for sale. 



To prepare them for sale the skins were cased (skinned through 

 a single slit along the hind legs from heel to heel) and dried on 

 frames. The pelts were cleaned and brushed and displayed fur 

 side out. They were divided into 197 lots. The lots ranged in size 

 from one to eight skins matched according to size and color. The 

 bid price for a single skin determined the price for all skins in 

 that lot. 



Skins taken in 1962 and 1963 and held since then were less 

 valuable, because of depreciation of quality in storage, than pelts 

 taken in 1967. The earlier collection sold for an average price of 

 about $80 each. The more recently taken skins averaged $280 

 each. One lot of four skins was sold at the maximum price of 

 $2,300 per skin. 



The auction was attended by buyers representing 33 companies 

 from 7 states and 6 foreign countries. All skins offered for sale 

 were sold. 



Feeding Mechanisms 



Dr. Robert P. Scapino, Department of Oral Anatomy, Uni- 

 versity of Illinois, has undertaken continuing study of the jaw 

 mechanics and feeding behavior in carnivores. He accomplished 

 a preliminary study of the skull and musculature of the sea otter 

 and kindly contributed an anatomical description, excerpts from 

 which are quoted below (letters, 1963 and 1964). He plans an 

 extensive publication on his studies of carnivore feeding mecha- 

 nisms. 



MASTICATORY MUSCLES 



I have completed gross dissection of the masticatory musculature in 

 Enhydra. The descriptive terminology used is somewhat different than what 

 you will find in works on Lutra (Fisher, 1942; Schumacher, 1961), however, 

 the terms used to designate the various muscles are perfectly acceptable and, 

 in my view, the most useful. My division of the superficial temporal muscle 

 into superior and inferior heads is somewhat unusual and later, when I have 

 examined the muscle in a sufficient number of other mustelids, I may decide to 

 label it differently. But right now the separation seems warranted, at least 

 from an anatomical standpoint. 



The masseter muscle of carnivores is usually described as having incom- 

 pletely distinct superficial and deep parts, but in the sea otter these divisions 

 are even more indistinct than usual. 



The anatomy of the jaw muscles in Enhydra is essentially the same as in 



