THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 

 SKULL OF THE LMPERL\L MAMMOTH. 



There has just been placed on exhibition in the Fossil 

 Mammal Hall of the American Museum of Natural History a 

 superb specimen of the tusks and palate of what may be known 

 as the 'Imperial Mammoth,' described in 1858 by Joseph Leidy 

 as Eleplias imperator, from a single tooth found in Indiana. 



The specimen was discovered in the sands of western Texas 

 many years ago by an amateur collector, and was only recently 

 secured by the American Museum. The upper portions of the 

 skull have been reproduced in plaster, but the entire lower por- 

 tion of the skull, the large pair of grinding teeth, and the gigantic 

 tusks are complete. The latter fall little short of being the largest 

 elephant tusks thus far described among either living or fossil 

 members of this family. So far as preserv^ed they measure 13 ft. 

 6 in. from the base of the tusk to the tips, and there is at least 

 a foot broken away from the end of the tip, making the total 

 estimated length 14 ft. 6 in. 



On leaving the skull, the tusks (which were imdoubtedly 

 used for fighting purposes) in young and middle-aged animals 

 curve downward and outward, then in old animals upward and 

 inward, until the tips almost meet each other. The height of 

 this animal must have been at least 13 ft., 2 ft. higher than that 

 of the famous African elephant "Jumbo," the skeleton of which 

 is also in the Museum. 



The single molar or grinding tooth is distinguished from that 

 of the Mammoth of the extreme north, Elephas primigenius, 

 and that of the Columbian Mammoth of the middle United 

 States, Eleplias colnmbi, by its very large size, and by the com- 

 paratively small number of its enamel plates, which are set 

 widely apart and surrounded by broad bands of cement. In 

 the grinders of the northern ilammoth, the enamel plates are 

 extremely numerous and closely appressed, and there is Uttle or 

 no cement. 



This specimen of the Imperial Mammoth, therefore, adds 

 greatly to our knowledge; and, together with the giant fore 

 limib, which is placed on exhibition near by, gives an impressive 



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