564 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



ber. Ver. Landeskunde Niederosterreich, 191 1, No. 16) on the tooth 

 of an elephant from the Pliocene of Lower Austria apparently- 

 allied to or identical with Elephas planifrons of the Indian 

 Siwalik ; such a westward extension of this type being of 

 considerable interest. 



In this place mention may be made of an important article by 

 Mr. Franz Bach, published in 1910 {Beitr. Pal. Oster.-Ung. vol. 

 xxiii. pp. 63-124) but not referred to in my summary for that 

 year, on the mastodons of Styria. Dr. Toula {Abh. Geol. 

 Reichsanstalt, Wien, vol. xx. pt. 5, pp. 46, 47) has likewise 

 described and figured teeth of Mastodon borsoni from the 

 Budapest and Arad districts. 



The most important discovery connected with the Probos- 

 cidea is the identification by Dr. C. W. Andrews {Proc. Zool. 

 Soc. London, 191 1, pp. 943-5) of remains of the European and 

 Asiatic Upper Tertiary genus Dinotherium in East Central 

 Africa, since this may be the forerunner of other discoveries in 

 regard to the extinct proboscideans of that continent. 



In view of the indications of affinity between the elephant 

 group (Proboscidea) and the sea-cows (Sirenia), to which atten- 

 tion was directed a few years ago by Dr. Andrews, particular 

 interest attaches to a paper by Mr. J. C. Merriam {Bull. Dep. 

 Geol. Univ. California, vol. vi. pp. 403-12) on the genus Desmo- 

 tylus, originally described by O. C. Marsh but subsequently 

 identified in Japan. In America the genus is now known to 

 occur in the marine Miocene strata of California ; and it may 

 be definitely included in the Sirenia. " The peculiar characters 

 of the skull and dentition of Desmotylus" observes Mr. Merriam, 

 " add somewhat to the evidence which has been held to indicate 

 relationship of the Sirenia to the Proboscidea." 



Passing from sea-cows to cetaceans, it may be noted in the 

 first place that important new light is thrown on the ancestry of 

 porpoises and dolphins by Mr. F. W. True's preliminary note 

 {Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. xxiv. pp. 37, 38) on a species 

 of the extinct genus Delphinodon from the Miocene of Maryland. 

 This genus, which has been hitherto referred to the Squalodontidat, 

 is regarded by Mr. True as a dolphin with tuberculate teeth. 

 It serves to prove, in his opinion, that the Delphinidce are 

 " derived from forms having teeth with tuberculate or serrate 

 crowns, rugose enamel and anterior and posterior longitudinal 

 ridges." This type of tooth still survives in the modern genus 



