From The 01’Sourdoughs Nature Notebook
When we look at the seals, sea lions
and other marine mammals wesee evolution
in action. The Seals are closely relat
ed to the carnivorous land mammals. Su
perficially they resemble the dog-, family,
and at one time were called sea wolfs,
but they are more closely related to the
cats, hence the term sea lion. The seals
are divided into the true selas or hair
seals (harbor seal, ring seal,ribbon se
al) and the eared seals (fur seal, sea
lions).
The true seals have been evolving a
longer time in their water environment
and have as a result developed unique
characteristices for this mode of living,
One Characteristic is the absence of
the external ear. i
The ear would act as a drag to . swimming
and so this part has been.lost over the
years. This absence gives this group th
eir other name of earless seals. Another
point is the rear extremities losing, all
ability for forward propulsion ' thereby
making it clumsy on land and very agile
in the water. This group has also lost
most of their hair,and adaptation to li
ve in water.
Now in comparison the eared seals have
not been evolving in the water as long
as the earless seals* They have definite
ears, the rear extremity is used in for
ward movement on land and the hair is
more dense« Also at birth the eared se
als must spend greater time on land whe
reas the earless, seals are bom with a
greater knowledge of swimming*
We can stretch our discussion and. in-r
elude the other mammals like the whales
who are even more so adapted for a marine
life, the rear extremity loses all land
use and is a horizontal fin, the hair is
generally absent and the young are born
at sea. Some whales must suckle theii
young above water,showing a land charac
teristic,.
Now strectching our discussion the ot
her way we can mention the sea otter,For
all practical' purposes we can call this
animal a land creature,he has a definite
fur, his rear feet are used for walking
(CON’T ON TOP OF NEXT COL.)
(CON'T)
on land and he has ears. But this anim- j
.al is a well adapted swimmer, can spen4 ;
hours at sea from whence comes his diet j
and he has already begun to develop web- j
feet. Can you imagine thousands of years j
from now when this animal will have a j
rear flipper instead of -feet, skin heav- j
ily laden with fat and coming ashore on- j
ly to give birth to its young„ Possiliy j
even giving birth to its young at sea. j
Like the whales. Yes, nature is ever ch- j
anging even though to our eyes she rema- j
ins the same.
See you next week with a detailed
on the Alaska King Crab.
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!
:
1. Has anybody ever driven a fair ^all |
out of the Yankee Stadium?
2. How many players have hit three ho- !
me runs in one World’s Series game?
3«Who scored the most touchdowns dur- !
ing the 1957 National Foolball League j
season??
4oWhat referee has worked the larges^
number of heavyweight championship bouts?
5.There are two weight.divisions in I
professional boxing in which former elm- \
mps have never been able to regain
Name Them j
i
(Answers to Sports Quiz on Page S)
JESSE JAMES ALL READY
WITH HIS\SHOOTIN’ IRONS
Ft, Lewis Wash, (AFPS) -
Jesse James is shinning up his shootin1 |
irons for some lusty trigger action ri- j
ght soon, ' j
It’s all fair and lawful, though, Ja-j
mes, a sergeant in the 44th Artillery — j
will participate in the.Yakima Firing, I