9G 
OSTEOLOGICAL GALLERY. 
rior edge nearly straight, somewhat as in tlie Whales. The 
Dugongs inhabit the coasts of the Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea 
to Australia, living in shallow waters, and feeding, like the Mana- 
tees, on sea- and river-weeds, but being on the whole more marine 
in their habits, and taking more readily to deep water. 
Tliree species have been distinguished, namely — HaVicore taher- 
naciili, the Red-Sea Dugong; H. duyong, the Indian; and H. 
australis, the Australian species. A stuffed specimen of the Red- 
Sea and a skeleton of the Indian species are placed in the Saloon, 
and a series of skulls of the other forms in Case 23. 
(3) IViytina, entirely without teeth, their place being taken by 
rough horny plates ; snout moderately bent downwards ; flippers 
short ; tail with two lateral flukes, as in the Cetacea. 
The only species of this genus is Steller^s Sea-Cow [R. gigas), 
which formerly in numbers inhabited the shores of the islands iu 
the neighbourhood of Behring Straits and Alaska. Its capture 
was so easy that the process of its extermination was accomplished 
within a short period after its discovery, towards the end of the 
last century. HappilVj before its final extermination, a German 
naturalist in the Russian service, Steller, published an excellent 
account of its anatomy and habits; so that it is nearly as well 
known as its living allies. ]\lany of its remains were discovered 
during the voyage of the ^ A^ega ^ in the region where it lived. A 
nearly perfect skull, obtained from Behring Island, is placed iu 
Case 23, D. 
Steller^s Sea-Cow was more than twice as large as either the 
Dugongs or Manatees, attaining a length of about 25 feet; but its 
habits were precisely similar. 
Fossil Siren ians are known as far back as the Middle Eocene, 
the Eotherium cegijptiacum having been found in Egy[)tian deposits 
of that age. In later times the members of this Order, such as 
Halithernim,Felsinotherhim, and others, were abundant in European 
seas, and their remains occur fossil in considerable numbers in 
Germany, France, and Italy : a single Miocene species has been 
recorded from Suffolk. 
Order IX. CETACEA. 
[See Cetacean Gallery, p. 104.) 
