Page:Mammalia (Beddard).djvu/395

 seven to twelve on each side, confined to anterior end of jaws. Skull raised into a prominence behind the blow-hole; pterygoids large and in contact. Pectoral fin long and falcate; dorsal fin present. No beak. Vertebral formula C 7, D 11, L 11 to 14, Ca 27 to 29. Six pairs of the ribs are two-headed.

The best known species of the genus is the Ca'ing Whale, G. melas. This animal reaches a length of 20 feet, and is thus one of the largest of the Delphinidae. It is gregarious and was, even is now, much hunted in the Faeroe Islands. Its sheep-like habits (embodied in one scientific name deductor) enable it to be easily driven on shore in herds, which are then harpooned. The foetus of this Whale has a few hairs; the number of phalanges in the two middle digits is very great, as many as eleven to fourteen. G. scammoni, G. brachypterus, and G. indicus are other reputed species of the genus allowed by True and Blanford.

Grampus is a genus allied to the last. It has no teeth in the upper jaw, and but three to seven in the lower jaw, near the symphysis of the mandible. The pterygoids are in contact. There is no beak, and the pectoral fin is long. There are twelve pairs of ribs, of which six are two-headed. Apparently there is but one species, G. griseus, known as "Risso's Dolphin." It is a Mediterranean and Atlantic form, and is not common.

The genus Orca has as characters:—Teeth ten to thirteen, long and strong. Pterygoids not quite meeting. Vertebrae C 7, D 11 to 12, L 10, Ca 23. The first two or three fused. The dorsal fin is long and pointed.

Of this genus there may be more than one species; but the best known is the Killer Whale, O. gladiator (Fig. 180, p. 341), often spoken of as the "Grampus." It is marked with contrasting bands of white or yellow upon a black body-colour. The animal grows to a considerable length, as much as 30 feet. Orca is a powerful and rapacious Whale; and Eschricht has stated that from the stomach of one, thirteen Porpoises and fourteen Seals were extracted. They will also combine to attack larger Whales, and Scammon has related how he witnessed such an onslaught upon a Californian