716 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



we have applied the older name, africana, to the form in- 

 habiting the Congo basin, which may be taken as repre- 

 senting part, at least, of the area which Blumenbach called 

 Middle Africa. Since the eighteenth century no new names 

 for African elephants have been proposed until the year 

 1900, when Matschie published a paper describing three 

 new species, one from East Africa, another from Abyssinia, 

 and a third from the Cameroons. Matschie recognized 

 four species: capensis of South Africa, knochenhaiieri of 

 East Africa, oxyotis of Abyssinia, and cyclotis of West Africa, 

 typically the Cameroons. His species were founded upon 

 differences in ear shape chiefly and, as far as our present 

 knowledge is concerned, hold good as racial distinctions, 

 with the exception of the distinctions drawn between the 

 East African and the Cape elephant, which are apparently 

 racially identical. The Cape or East African race is char- 

 acterized by the large size of the ear, which has a height in 

 adult bulls of from 4 to 5>^ feet, or quite half that of the 

 standing height of the animal. The ear is rectangular in 

 shape, being folded in at the top so that the upper outline 

 runs parallel with the neck, and the point or lappet being 

 formed by the lower margin and the hinder meeting at 

 right angles below the throat, or rather in front of the chest, 

 gives the ear its rectangular shape. This is the largest 

 race, the record elephants in height of body and dimensions 

 of tusks being South or East African specimens. In the 

 highland region of Abyssinia, particularly the northern 

 slopes of its plateau region in the area drained by the Blue 

 Nile and the Atbara River, we find a second race of ele- 

 phants, called by Matschie oxyotis. It may be distinguished 

 from the East African race, or capensis, by the absence of 

 the fold on the upper margin of the ears, the ears folding 

 over the nape of the neck but not bent back upon them- 

 selves. The ear is also more pointed or pear-shaped, being 

 narrower, with a longer lappet. In some specimens the 

 hinder and part of the upper margin of the ear is folded 

 forward for a width of two or three inches, as in the Indian 

 elephant. The species described from the Cameroons by 

 Matschie as cyclotis is the most distinct in ear shape of all 

 the races. The ear in this race is elongate and evenly 

 rounded on its entire hinder border and is without any fold 



