THE MIOCENE PERIOD. 



It is to the Miocene period, again, to which we must refer 

 the first appearance of the important order of the Elephants 

 and their allies (Proboscideans), all of which are characterized 

 by their elongated trunk-like noses, the possession of five toes to 

 the foot, the absence of canine 'teeth, the development of two 

 or more of the incisor teeth into long tusks, and the adaptation 

 of the molar teeth to a vegetable diet. Only three generic 

 groups of this order are known namely, the extinct Deino- 

 therium, the equally extinct Mastodons, and the Elephants; and 

 all these three types are known to have been in existence as 

 early as the Miocene period, the first of them being exclusively 

 confined to deposits of this age. Of the three, the genus 

 Deinotherium is much the most abnormal in its characters; 

 so much so, that good authorities regard it as being one 

 of the Sea-cows (Sirenia} though this view has been rendered 

 untenable by the discovery of limb-bones which can hardly 

 belong to any other animal, and which are distinctly Probosci- 

 dean in type. The most celebrated skull of the Deinothere 

 (fig. 246) is one which was exhumed from the Upper Miocene 

 deposits of Epplesheim, in Hesse- 

 Darmstadt, in the year 1836. 

 This skull was four and a half 

 feet in length, and indicated an 

 animal larger than any existing 

 species of Elephant. The upper 

 jaw is destitute of incisor or 

 canine teeth, but is furnished on 

 each side with five molars, which 

 are opposed to a corresponding 

 series of grinding teeth in the 

 lower jaw. No canines are pres- 

 ent in the lower jaw; but the 

 front portion of the jaw is ab- 

 ruptly bent downwards, and car- 

 ries two huge tusk-like incisor 

 teeth, which are curved down- 

 wards and backwards, and the use of which is rather problem- 

 atical. Not only does the Deinothere occur in Europe, but 

 remains belonging to this genus have also been detected in the 

 Siwalik Hills, in India. 



The true Elephants (Elephas} do not appear to have ex- 

 isted during the Miocene period in Europe, but several species 

 have been detected in the Upper Miocene deposits of the 



Fig. 246 Skull of Deinotherium 

 giganteum, greatly reduced. From 

 the Upper Miocene of Germany. 



