B. Elephantine Group. 



Falconer's division of the more hypsodont Elephants into the 

 loxodont and euelephantine groups has been found untenable l , and 

 as there are also objections to Pohlig's 2 proposed triple division into 

 the archidiscodont, loxodont, and polydiscodont groups, the whole of 

 the species are included in a single group. 



In all the species of this group the ridges of the molars are so 

 tall that they assume the appearance of plates, but there is great 

 variation in respect to their height and number, those of the less 

 specialized forms being not more numerous than in Elephas insignis. 

 The cement always completely fills the interspaces between the ridges, 

 and in the higher forms these interspaces are extremely narrow. 



An almost complete transition in dental characters can be traced 

 from the stegodont E. insiynis through E. planifrons and E. meri- 

 dionaUs to E. hysudricus, whence there is a passage to E. nama- 

 dicus and E. antiquus, and thence to E. primigenius, E. indicus, &c. 

 One variety of E. antiquus shows, moreover, a molar structure so 

 closely resembling that of E. africanus that a transition can be traced 

 between these two species, and also between the former and the small 

 Maltese species. Leith-Adams 3 indeed suggests that E. hysudricus 

 gave rise to two branches, one comprising E. namadicus, E. antiquus, 

 E. africanus, and the Maltese species, and the other E. primigenius, 

 E. indicus, &c. ; but the evidence is not sufficient to render this 

 view by any means conclusive, and it has the objection of placing 

 no intermediate form between E. hysudricus and the E. primigenius 

 subgroup. It will be obvious from these remarks that it is impossible 

 to exhibit the mutual relations of the various species in a linear 

 arrangement. 



Elephas planifrons, Falconer and Cautley 4 . 

 Syn. Loxodon planifrons, auct. 



The average ridge-formula 5 , exclusive of talons, may be 



1 Thus the so-called E. pruau (which was subsequently identified with 

 E. antiquus) was placed in the loxodont, while E. antiquus was classed in the 

 euelephantine group. 



a Sitz. niederrhein. Ges. Feb. 4th, 1884. The archidiscodont group in- 

 cludes E. planifrons and E. meridionalis (in which E. hysudricus is merged) ; 

 the loxodont group E. africanus and (?) E. antiquus (with which the Maltese 

 forms are identified) ; while the polydiscodont group comprises all the remaining 

 species. 



3 History of British Fossil Elephants (Mon. Pal. Soc.), p. 244. 

 'Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis,' pt, 1, p. 38 (1846). 



5 This formula as well as the dental characters are somewhat modified from 

 those given in the ' Palseontologia Indira,' ser. 10, vol. i. p. 275, where, owing to 

 some misdetermmations in the ' Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis,' some of the ciphers 

 are too high. 



