macrorhinus proboscideus

1 definition found

macrorhinus proboscideus - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Sea elephant \Sea" el"e*phant\ (s[=e]" [=e]"[-e]*fant). (Zool.)
     A very large seal (Macrorhinus proboscideus) of the
     Antarctic seas, much hunted for its oil. It sometimes attains
     a length of thirty feet, and is remarkable for the
     prolongation of the nose of the adult male into an erectile
     elastic proboscis, about a foot in length. Another species of
     smaller size (Macrorhinus angustirostris) occurs on the
     coast of Lower California, but is now nearly extinct.
     [1913 Webster]