1907.] EARS OF AFRICAN ELEPHANTS. 399 



specimen figured, which indicates a small, although apparently 

 adult elephant, the maximum vertical diameter of the ear is only 

 2 feet 11 inches, and the transverse diameter 2 feet. The ears, 

 which (as mounted) show no folding, are remarkable for the 

 circumstance that their- upper margin is almost continuous with 

 that of the head itself ; the distinct notch occurring at the junction 

 of the ear with the head in all other Elephants that I have seen, 

 being a bsent. The upper mai'gin of the ear forms a nearly straight 

 line inclining upwards to the outer upper angle ; from the latter 

 point the outer mai-gin runs nearly vertically downwards for a 

 considerable distance, and is then continued for a much longer 

 distance in a downward and inward direction to terminate in 

 the point of the inferior lappet. The lappet itself is small, tri- 

 angular, sharply pointed inferiorly, and separated by a wide notch 

 from the side of the lower jaw and throat. It seems, indeed, to 

 form a seini-distinct appendage of the ear, and is thus quite 

 unlike the corresponding element in any other head that has 

 come under my notice. The distinctness of the North Somali 

 Elephant, as it should be called, is thus perfectly apparent. 



The next race for consideration is the one from the French 

 Sudan, typified by " Jumbo," the Society's well-known African 

 Elephant. " Jumbo," together with " Sahib," who died last year 

 after a sojourn of about thii*ty yea,rs at Paris, was brought to 

 France from some part of the Fi-ench Sudan *, probably to the 

 southward of Lake Chad, and afterwards sold to our Society. At 

 the time he left England for America he was believed to be about 

 11 feet in height ; and both he and " Sahib " indicate an unusually 

 large race of the species. As regards the characters of the ear, 

 the West Sudan race appears to connect the East African races 

 with E. a. cydotis. Compared with that of E. a. oxyotis (text- 

 fig. 117) the ear of "Jumbo" (text-fig. 119) is relatively smaller, 

 and has a strongly emarginate, in place of a nearly straight 

 postero-inferior border. The emargination of this border causes 

 the lappet to be much more distinct from the rest of the ear than 

 is the case in E. a. oxyotis ; and if this semidistinct lappet were 

 altogether removed, we should have an ear not very unlike that of 

 E. a. cydotis. Jumbo's ears, when in repose, nearly meet in the 

 middle line of the back, and show no flexure of the margin, 

 whereas the upper border of those of E. a. oxyotis is bent over 

 the front surface. A marked peculiarity in the case of " Jumbo " 

 is the deep channel running upwards and backwards from the 

 meatus. The subpyriform shape of the ear, with the above- 

 mentioned groove, and the absence of any flexure of the margin, 

 appear to be the most easily recognised features of the large West 

 Sudan race, which I propose to call E. a. rothschildi, taking the 

 statuette of "Jumbo" in the British Museum (Natural History) 

 as the type. 



Thus ends this long review of the various forms of ear 



* This information was given me by Mr. Rothschild after the paper was read. 



27* 



