GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | 1 -- -- -- | 1 -- -- 4 |-- -- -- --|-- -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- 2. 3 -- | | | | | The Otariidæ, or Eared Seals, comprehending the sea-bears and sea-lions, are confined to the temperate and cold shores of the North Pacific, and to similar climates in the Southern Hemisphere, where the larger proportion of the species are found. They are entirely absent from the North Atlantic shores. Mr. J. A. Allen, in his recent discussion of this family (Bull. Harvard Museum) divides them into the following genera:-- _Otaria_ (1 species), Temperate South America, from Chili to La Plata; _Callorhinus_ (1 species), Behring's Straits and Kamschatka; _Arctocephalus_ (3 species), temperate regions of the {203}Southern Hemisphere; _Zalophus_ (2 species), North Pacific, from California to Japan, and the shores of Australia and New Zealand; _Eumetopias_ (1 species), Behring's Straits and California. _Fossil Otariidæ._--Remains supposed to belong to this family have been found in the Miocene of France. FAMILY 34.--TRICHECHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.) GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- 4 | 1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- | | | | | The Morse, or Walrus (_Trichecus rosmarus_), which alone constitutes this family, is a characteristic animal of the North Polar regions, hardly passing south of the Arctic circle except on the east and west coasts of North America, where it sometimes reaches Lat. 60°. It is most abundant on the shores of Spitzbergen, but is not found on the northern shores of Asia between Long. 80° and 160° E., or on the north shores of America from 100° to 150° west. Its remains have been found fossil in Europe as far south as France, and in America as far as Virginia; but the small fragments discovered may render the identification uncertain. FAMILY 35.--PHOCIDÆ. (13 Genera, 21 Species.)