428 ZOOLOGY 



the modern elephants by the structure of its teeth, 

 which have not nearly so many transverse ridges and 

 are thus more primitive. The mammoth, on the other 

 hand, is a veritable elephant, belonging to the same 

 genus (Elephas) as the Indian species. The Indian ele- 

 phant is hairy at birth, and the mammoth was coated 

 with long hair at maturity. Not only do the drawings 

 of ancient man show the mammoth as a hairy beast, but 

 frozen bodies of these animals have been found in 

 Siberia, preserved in cold storage so perfectly that the 

 flesh was still edible. Even the contents of the stomach 

 have been secured, showing that the food consisted of 

 such plants as still exist in those northern regions. 

 These discoveries illustrate the possible mistakes which 

 may be made in reasoning about past climates from 

 fossil remains. Modern elephants being tropical, one 

 would naturally infer that wherever these animals ex- 

 isted, tropical conditions prevailed. 



North America, in Pleistocene time, had three dis- 

 tinct species of elephants or mammoths. Of these the 

 true mammoth, Elephas primigenius, was not the larg- 

 est. The other two are named Elephas columbi (after 

 Columbus) and Elephas imperator (emperor). Their 

 remains are widely scattered over the country. 

 Living 4. Living elephants belong to two groups. The 



elephants Indian elephant is familiar as a domestic animal in 

 oriental countries. The African elephants, remark- 

 able for the extremely large ears, have been placed in a 

 distinct genus, Loxodonta. There are several distinct 

 types, but authorities differ greatly in their judgment 

 as to the number of species. It is naturally difficult to 

 secure a good collection of elephants, and consequently 

 opinions have been based on inadequate materials. 



