. American types of animal life. Zoology; Animal behavior. 304 TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE Instead of seeking to seduce unwary voyagers to visit its home beneath the waves, in order there to devour them, the dugong (for that is the name of this sort of mermaid) browses peacefully on seaweed, and is as harmless as it is curious. It is a creature which, as ordinarily met with, is about eight feet long. Only a faintly marked neck is visible between the head and the trunk, which tapers gra- dually backward to end in a horizontally flattened tail. Unlike the seals and sea bears, the dugong has no trace of
. American types of animal life. Zoology; Animal behavior. 304 TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE Instead of seeking to seduce unwary voyagers to visit its home beneath the waves, in order there to devour them, the dugong (for that is the name of this sort of mermaid) browses peacefully on seaweed, and is as harmless as it is curious. It is a creature which, as ordinarily met with, is about eight feet long. Only a faintly marked neck is visible between the head and the trunk, which tapers gra- dually backward to end in a horizontally flattened tail. Unlike the seals and sea bears, the dugong has no trace of any hind limb, and has only a pair of short paddle- shaped fore-limbs, the five digits of which are enclosed Fig. THE DUGONG. in a common fold of skin, and are not therefore visible externally. They have no nails. Deep in the body of the animal are small bones which are the rudiments of that bony structure (called the pelvis) to which our thigh bones are articulated. But there is no rudiment representing the thigh bone itself. The skin of the body is very thick, rough, and almost naked, but with a few hairs. Some hairs extend inside the cheek, and there are stray bristles on the lips. The eyes are small, there are no external ears, and the nostrils can be closed, having each a valvular external Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Mivart, St. George Jackson, 1827-1900. Boston, Little, Brown and Company
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