Abstract
(1) THE fifth, probably the penultimate, volume of the natural history results of the voyage of the s.s. Discovery has followed its predecessors without loss of time, and it resembles them in quality and interest, reflecting great credit on all concerned. The first memoir, bv Dr. H. W. Marett Tims, deals with the embryos of Weddell's seal. The author finds in the musculature some additional support for Mivart's suggestion of a lutrine origin for the Phocidæ, and he has discovered in a very early embryo what seems to be the vanishing point of a vestigial external ear. Prof. Herdman deals like an old hand with the small but interesting collection of tunicates, comprising twenty-two species, of which ten are new to science. None of them are very remarkable forms in any way, but they confirm the impression which other collections have suggested, that “the ascidian fauna of the far south is characterised by the abundance and the large size of the individuals of a comparatively few species.” In the present collection we have a number of gigantic forms, such as Styela spectabilis, of 18 cm.
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References
National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–4. Natural History. vol. v. Zoology and Botany. (London: British Museum [N. H.], 1910.) Price 30s
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More Antarctic Natural History 1 . Nature 84, 205–207 (1910). https://doi.org/10.1038/084205a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/084205a0