142 



BRITISH FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 



the African (fig. 41) shows a greater disposition to constriction at the middle — a 

 character seemingly present also in E. meridionalis (fig. 40). I must admit, however, 

 that the condyle does not seem to me a satisfactory means of diagnosis. 



The posterior aspect of the nech of the mandible is seemingly alike, with very little 

 variation, in both the Mammoth and the Asiatic Elephant, being relatively narrower than 

 obtains in the Meridional and African species, which again present close affinities. 

 This will be more or less apparent from the following Woodcuts, figs. 39, 40, and 41. 



Fig. 39. 



Fig. 40. 



Fig. 41. 



JE. primigenius, Ilford. E. meridionalis, Val d'Arno. (British E. Africanus. (Collection of Royal 

 (British Museum Collection, Museum Collection, No. 37,339.) College of Surgeons, No. 2846.) 



No. ig.) 



Coronoid. — The coronoid in the Mammoth does not generally rise within two inches 

 of the upper surface of the condyle. Its anterior border is sometimes straight, some- 

 times concave, generally slightly concave with thickening of the apex. In the Asiatic it 

 is nearly level with the summit of the condyle, the anterior border presenting a similar varia- 

 bility to that of the Mammoth, whereas it is usually concave in the African, whose condyle 

 is nearly level with the apex of the coronoid. The characters of the anterior border are, 

 however, so subject to variation, that little reliance can be placed on it as distinctive of 

 any one species. 



The beetling of the anterior and upper portion of the coronoid has been considered 

 a character of the two recent species ; but this is by no means the case, as the contour is 

 constantly varying in specimens, and is very variable also in the jaw of the Mammoth, as 

 also seen in the accompanying Woodcuts, figs. 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46. 



Foramina. — The external mental foramina are, as a rule, closer to the free margin of the 

 diasteme in the Asiatic Elephant and Mammoth than in the African, and, perhaps, the E. 

 meridionalis and E.antiquus; but that there are exceptional instances, and that the condition 



1 Falconer, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 128. 



