ELEPHAS. 



39 



sort of overfolded ridge on its frontal portion, forming an Pier- 

 overhanging fold on the forehead (see pier-case 34). The 

 presence of this peculiarity makes it very unlikely that any 

 of the later forms in which it is absent were descended 

 from this species, which is of particular interest because 

 it was very widely distributed. In the changes that took 

 place in the distribution of land and water at the end of the 

 Pliocene and the beginning of the Pleistocene, poriions of 

 the regions inhabited by this form and its varieties became 

 isolated as islands, and in these restricted habitats the species 

 became dwarfed and the dwarf Forms in the different islands 

 at the same time became specifically distinct from one another. 

 Instances of these small forms are Elephas melitensis, E. mnai- Table- 

 driensis, E. Cypriotes, and E. creticus. E. melitensis and ^^/A 

 E. mnaidriensis are found in Malta. Of the first-named species 

 a small form sometimes called E. falcuneri did not stand more 

 than about three feet high at the shoulder. The ridge-formula 

 of the molar teeth is : M 1 1=|, M 2 $, M 3 J=J|. A large col- 

 lection of remains of these species, obtained by Admiral Spratt 

 and Professor Leith Adams, is shown in table-cases 21 & 21 A. 

 E. mnaidriensis is also found in Sicily ; probably this species, 

 which is larger than E. melitensis, represents the intermediate 

 stage between it and E. antiquus. E. Cypriotes from Cyprus, 

 and E. creticus from Crete, were both discovered and described 

 by Miss D. M. A. Bate, who collected the specimens shown 

 in table-case 17 A. 



Turning again to the main line, we find that Elephas hysu- Table- 

 dricus probably passed into some such species as E. armeniacus, 

 which in many respects is intermediate between the Mammoth 

 (E. primigenius] and the living Indian Elephant (E. maximus). 

 The Mammoth seems to represent the highest pitch of evolu- 

 tion attained in the Elephantidse, being in some respects in 

 advance even of the Indian Elephant. It is here that we meet 

 with the greatest number of ridges in the molars (fig. 28), the 

 formula being M 1 , M 2 JJlJJ, M 3 J^JJ. These teeth 

 represent the culmination of the long series of changes above 

 described, all tending to increase the efficiency of the molars 



