CHORD. VTA 385 



nasal openings. The eyes are small, the external ears very 

 large; the mammary glands, provided with two teats, are pec- 

 toral in position, and there is no scrotum ; the tail is small. The 

 tusks are greatly developed incisors; canine teeth are absent. 

 There are only two species Of living elephants, the Indian, 

 Elephas indicus, and the African, Elephas africanus. The latter 

 is the larger, though rarely over three meters high at the shoul- 

 der ; it is darker in color than the Asiatic species, the external 

 ears are much larger, and the tusks grow to a great size in both 

 sexes, while in the elephant from India the tusks of the male are 

 much larger than those of the female. 



The extinct mammoths belonged to the same genus as the 

 existing elephants ; their remains have been found in Europe, 

 northern Asia, and in North America as far south as Oregon. 

 At the end of the eighteenth century one was found frozen near 

 the mouth of the river Lena in Siberia ; it was covered with hair 

 twenty-five centimeters long on its body, and had a inane three 

 times as long. There are several species of the huge fossil 

 mastodons, remains of which have been found in Africa, India, 

 Europe, and North and South America ; some of them were the 

 largest land animals that ever existed. On the other hand, there 

 have been obtained from the island of Malta large numbers of 

 remains of pygmy elephants no larger than sheep. 



Suborder 4. Hyracoidea 



The Hyracoidea (Gr. vpa%, a mouse, and elSo?, form) are rep- 

 resented by several species of a single genus, Hyrax (Fig. 376). 

 There has been consider- 

 able difference of opinion 

 concerning their position 

 in the system of classifi- 

 cation, but they are now 

 very generally placed next 

 the elephants. They are 



little animals about the Size Fig. 376. Hyrax syriacus. (From Claus and 

 Of rabbits, COVered with Sedgwick's Text-book.) 



brownish fur ; the tail is very rudimentary. They have four 

 toes on the front feet and three on the hind. Hyrax lives in 



2C 



