Evolution of Elephants 59 



PEDIGREE OF THE ELEPHANT 



It may be more profitable to select a particular 

 pedigree, and that of the elephants is eloquent. Mil- 

 lions of years ago in the Eocene epoch, when the cli- 

 mate was hot-house like and the vegetation luxuriant, 

 there lived in North Africa a primitive hoofed animal 

 called Moeritherium. It was about the size of a small 

 donkey, and it was a pioneer on the elephant line of 

 evolution. It had, like the tapir, a short snout, useful 

 in gripping the herbage. Ages passed, and in the 

 Lower Oligocene there appeared alongside of Moe- 

 ritherium a larger creature called Palaeomastodon, 

 standing from four to six feet high. The snout had 

 lengthened, the nose-opening was farther back, the 

 canine teeth had disappeared, and likewise the front 

 teeth, except two pairs of tusks. Moreover, the big 

 grinding molars showed three transverse ridges. 

 More ages passed, and in the Miocene there appeared 

 the triumphant Tetrabelodon, as large as a medium- 

 sized elephant. The nostrils were still farther back, 

 the upper tusks were stronger, the grinding teeth 

 had more ridges, and there was a more marked de- 

 velopment of air-cavities, lightening the heavy skull. 

 The neck was becoming shorter and the snout was 

 turning into a flexible trunk. Ages passed, and in 

 the Pliocene epoch there appeared the elephant 

 proper, in some ways linked back to Tetrabelodon 

 by the Mastodons. The chin-region had shortened, 

 the lower tusks were gone, the back teeth were more 

 complicated, the upper tusks were much stronger, 



