56 



GUIDE TO TlIK FOSSll, MAMMALS A.VU UllJDS. 



Pier-case most ancient si)ecinicns were obtained from the Xorfolk 

 Forest Bed and from the I'liocene Xorwieli Cra.u'. ]\Iolars of 

 youni,' individuals, chiefly found in Kn.Ldand, are arranged 

 Table-cases ill Table-case IVlA. Teeth intermediate l)et\veen those of 

 ^'21a^' ' E. antiquus and B. africanns occur in northern Africa, and 

 there are remains of dwarf races in ihe caverns of Malta, 

 Sicily, and Cyprus. The pigmy elephants (jf Malta (B. mcli- 

 tensis and B. mnaidrlcn.^is) and Cyprus {E. cupriotcs) are 

 especially interesting, and must have varied from three to 

 seven feet in height when full-grown. A large collection of 

 their remains is exhibited in Table-cases 17a, 21, 21a, those 

 from Malta having been collected by Admiral Spratt and Pro- 

 fessor Leith Adams, those from Cyprus Ijy Miss 1). M. A. Bate. 

 There are also a few jaws and teeth of the Sicilian forms in 

 Table-case 21. It is commonly supposed that these animals 

 were stranded on the islands where the i-emains are fninid, 



Fig. 45.— Grinding surface of right second lower molar tooth of Elephan 

 antiquus, from the Pleistocene of Grays, Essex ; one-third nat. size. 

 (Pier-case 33.) 



when the ^Mediterranean assumed its present extent in the 

 Pleistocene period and disintegrated the once continuous 

 mainland. Their small size and innumerable variations are 

 thus ascribed to the struggle for existence on a reduced and 

 unfavouralde feeding ground. 



The largest known elephant, apparently allied to tlie 

 surviving African species, lived during the Upper Pliocene 

 period to the dawn of the Pleistocene in the soutlunn lialf nf 

 Table-case Europe. It was first discovered in the valley of the Arno, 

 Italy, and named Ekplias mtridioncdis. A nearly complete 

 skeleton from Durfort, CJard, France, now mounted in the 

 Paris Museum, shows that tlie animal must sometimes liaxe 

 measured 14 or 15 feet in height. Molar teeth (Fig. -li)) and 

 other remains occur in the Xorfolk Forest Bed, and a good 

 collection is exhibited with some Italian specimens in Tal)le- 

 case 20. A few pieces are also shown from the Pliocene Pied 



20. 



