ELEPHAS. 43 



ancestor, of the African Elephant, a conclusion that is sup- 

 ported by the recent discovery in Zululand, in beds of probably 

 late Pliocene age, of a molar which is very similar to some 

 molars of E. antiquus. This Zululand species has been called 

 Elephas zulu, and was found associated with remains of other 

 mammals, the first Tertiary mammalian fauna hitherto dis- 

 covered in South Africa. , 



The African Elephant to-day ranges very widely over Africa 

 south of the Sahara, but fossil remains have been found in 

 Northern Africa and in the south of Europe. It is distin- 

 guished by its convex forehead, its very large ears, and by the 

 presence of two finger-like processes on the tip of the trunk 

 (see fig. 31 B). The molar teeth are considerably simpler than 

 those of the Indian species (see fig. 29 B), the ridges being 



Fig. 81. 



A B 



Tip of trunk of (A) the Asiatic and (B) the African Elephant. 



fewer in number and widening out in the middle in a peculiar 

 manner ; the teeth also are relatively smaller than in other 

 elephants. In fact if, as is almost certain, E. africanus is 

 derived from some such species as E. antiquus or E. zulu, then 

 the changes that the molars have undergone are not in the 

 same direction as those which gave rise to the Indian Elephant 

 and the Mammoth, but are to some extent retrograde. 



It has lately been shown that although there is only a single 

 species of African Elephant, nevertheless, in different parts of 

 the continent, there are different local races which may perhaps 

 be regarded as subspecies, and are in fact species in the making. 

 Differences in the form of the skull of these different races can 

 be detected, but the most striking characters distinguishing 

 them from one another are the size and shape of the ears. 



