Supplement to the catalogue of seals and whales in the British Museum

by John Edward Gray

Otariina, Gray, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1869, vol. iv. p. 269.

1. OTARIA.

Grinders 6/5. In the adult skulls the fourth upper grinder is under the front edge of the orbit, and the sixth or last in a line with the back edge of the zygomatic arch. The hinder edge of the palate is rather in front, on the line of the condyles. The teeth in the younger skull are more lobed than in the adult; the upper grinders are also differently disposed; the third upper grinder is under the front edge of the orbit, and the fifth tooth is in a line with the back edge of the zygomatic arch, and the last or sixth tooth is far behind it (see skull, Cat. S. & W. p. 58, f. 18). This change is remarkable, as the teeth of the young and the adult Zalophus Gilliespii are similar in number and position.

Otaria (subg. Otaria), Peters, Monatsb. 1866, p. 263.

Otaria, Gray, Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 57; Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1866, vol. xviii. p. 230; Gill, and Peters.

Platyrhynchus, F. Cuvier.

1. Otaria jubata. Sea-lion.

Fur dark brown; cheeks, temples, and sides of the forehead black; neck greyish brown; back of the neck yellow-brown; belly dusky black; hairs flat, tapering, dark brown, yellow, and whitish intermixed, without any under-fur.

Sea-bear, Illustrated London News; Boy’s Own Book.