38 ELEPHANTS. 



Pier- evolution, or perhaps a little more advanced. The last molars 

 33t may have 13-14 ridges, and in some cases approach the condition 



ca^e 20 seen m -^ hysudricus. E. meridionalis attained enormous dimen- 

 sions, some individuals probably standing about 15 feet in height 

 at the shoulder. Remains of this species occur in the Forest 

 Bed of Norfolk (see table-case 20) and in the Upper Pliocene 

 deposits of the Val d'Arno and the Auvergne. According to 

 Leith Adams (' British Fossil Elephants/ p. 232) the molars are 

 distinguished by the following characters : " Crowns very broad ; 

 columns short as compared with E. antiquus, and generally as 

 compared with E. primigenius ; the enamel of the discs thick 

 and rarely crimped, but usually uneven, looped or channelled ; 

 plates wide apart, with thick wedges of cement." Numerous 

 teeth of this species are shown in table-case 20. 



Pier- Returning to the Indian series, the next stage may be taken 



as represented by Elephas hysudricus, in which there is a con- 

 siderable increase in the height of the teeth and in the number 

 of the ridges. The skull is in many respects similar to that 

 of E. maximw, the modern Indian elephant, which may have 

 been its direct descendant. E. hysudricus, like E. meridionalis, 

 sometimes attained a very large size. This species occurs at 

 the end of the Pliocene and perhaps in the early Pleistocene 



Fig. 27. 



Grinding surface of second lower molar of Elephas antiqum from the 

 Pleistocene of Grays, Essex. nat. size. 



Pier- beds of the Narbada. Contemporary with it was E. antiquus 

 caseSa (fi^ 27), a large elephant found in the late Pliocene and early 



cases" Pleistocene of Europe, and appearing in beds of the latter 



19, 19 A. horizon of India, where it has been called. E. namadicus. In 



this species the skull is peculiar from the development of a 



