. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. CUAHACTEltlliTlCS OF THE OTAniES. lias arisen from several reasons. 8ealer-s have long distinguished the two kinds, namely. Fur HkiaIsk and Hair Seiils; but among the and tliousands of skins amuially brought home, little attention was paid to the animal from which the diflerent skins were obtained, other than to its mere market value. While skins, and occasionally skulls or skeletons, found theii- way into our museuins, seldom have these specimens been certified as belonging to one and the same individual; and in otlun- cases t
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. CUAHACTEltlliTlCS OF THE OTAniES. lias arisen from several reasons. 8ealer-s have long distinguished the two kinds, namely. Fur HkiaIsk and Hair Seiils; but among the and tliousands of skins amuially brought home, little attention was paid to the animal from which the diflerent skins were obtained, other than to its mere market value. While skins, and occasionally skulls or skeletons, found theii- way into our museuins, seldom have these specimens been certified as belonging to one and the same individual; and in otlun- cases they have been so mixed that identification has been little short of a riddle. Failing precision with regard to skins and skulls, the anatomists have been too prone to found genera and species on im- perfect data, ignoring dilterences of sex, age, and the like, and thus many technical di\isions have bccji introduced which we hardly think it worth wliile here rigidly to follow. Tlie famUy Otariidje, or Eared Seals, was distinguished, and so named t.\ tin M. Peron early in this century, from the animals of this section possessing a small scroll-like external ear, an appendage wanting in the Seals generally. They moreover differ from the latter, ami ,<^*"**'*'''^^.' resemble the Walrus, inasmuch as they can freely progress on all-fours ..^'^^i^^ on land. Theii- skull is somewhat Bear-like, the neck being long. ^'-" N;, The fore-limbs, set well back, are tolerably free, and rest on a thin, broad, but flat hand of great size, encased in a leathery-like substance. The thumb is remarkably stout, and far exceeds the other fingers in t length, and on all the merest indications of nails are present. Each 'â '' " finger is tipped with a long spatular cartilage, as are the toes of the hind h tt tlius ^n \\\<s, tin m gi< U flexibility. The hind limbs are not so loosely attached by the tail membrane is ni the \\ ill us uid tin short tail is appare
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectanimals
