2. Osteology of Antarctic Seals,

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 42, 1909, Page 128

2. Osteology of Antarctic Seals, by Robert B. Thomson (Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, vol. xlvii, 1909). Four seals are endemic to the shores of the Antarotic Continent, of which one, the sea-leopard (Stenorhynchus leptonyx) occasionally visits the shores of New Zealand. In this contribution, however, Mr. Thomson deals only with Ross's seal (Ommatophoca rossi), the osteology of which is given in detail, so that it is impossible to summarise the paper. Two points, however, may be referred to: he was able to examine a considerable number of specimens of each of these four species in order to establish their dentition, with the result that he finds these antarctic seals to have the formula 2, 1, 5 above and below, which contrasts with the typical Phoca of the Northern Hemisphere, in which there are three incisors on each side of each jaw. Again, the vertebral formula of the Phocidœ, as a whole, appears to be constantly C. 7, T. 14, L. 5, S. 3, C. –12. The paper is illustrated with photographs of the skull of Ross's seal. W.B.B.