﻿ELEPHAS ANTIQUUS— TRUE MOLARS. 



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ridges in 7'5 inches. There is a clear loss of the first two ridges, and possibly the tooth 

 may belong to the next of the series. It presents, however, distinctive characters of 

 the E. antiquus. 



I examined in 18C3 an entire, and what appeared to me a right lower molar in Baron 

 Anca's collection from the Palermo Caves. It contained x 12 x in 6 inches. The 

 crown was much arcuated, and presented all the characters of the Elephant in question. 

 It may possibly be a first true molar or else a large last milk ; and, if we may judge from 

 the huge last true molars in Italian collections, it is probably a last milk molar of a large 

 individual. 



Affinities. — The first true molar of E. Namadicus, ' E. A. S.,' pi. xii d, figs. 1 and 2, 

 is in the British Museum. It is very closely allied to that of E. antiquus, fig. 4 of the 

 same plate, and contains fourteen ridges or a? 12 a? in 7*3 inches. The intimate 

 resemblances between these teeth at all points are further augmented by a comparison of 

 the mandibles to which each are adhering, as will be pointed out in the sequel. An entire 

 lower-jaw specimen is shown in fig. 3 and 3 a, where x 1 2 x are contained in a space 

 of 10" 5 inches. 



The conditions which render it difficult to determine the last milk and first true 

 molar in E. antiquus are just as conflicting in other species. In the Mammoth, from its 

 teeth being short and very broad, together with the constant disposition of the ridges to 

 become crowded, we find that undoubted first true molars often revert to the dimensions 

 of the last milk molar. Ordinarily however there can never be much difficulty in 

 discriminating between teeth of the above forms of Elephants. The intermediate molars, 

 to wit, the last milk and first true molar in the Mammoth, as compared with the above, 

 are much broader teeth, with aggregated plates and absence of pronounced crimping. 

 The latter may be faintly indicated along the margins of the machserides, but never to 

 the extent usually observed in the other. The ridge formula in the first true molar of 

 the Mammoth varies considerably ; Ealconer establishes an average of twelve plates and 

 two talons, which seems to include the majority of teeth, especially upper molars, 1 but 

 there is much variability in this respect. 



The first true molar of E. meridionalis is ordinarily large and massive, with a low 

 ridge formula of about x 8 x in about G| inches, and thick unplaited, although often 

 faintly crimped enamel. The central dilatation and angulation are often pronounced in 

 lower molars, but the smooth polished enamel of the worn disk with the large inter- 

 vening wedges of cement and less height of the ridges, will, in a majority of instances, 

 determine the specific relations of its molar. 2 



The first true molar of E. Mnaidriensis* has undoubted close affinities to E. antiquus, 

 and holds from ten to eleven ridges in a space varying from 4*3 to 5'2 inches. The 



1 'Pal. Mem.,' vol. ii, pp. 163 and 171 ; ' Ossem. Fossiles,' pi. xii, fig. 3. 



2 ' Pal. Mem.,' vol. ii, pp. Ill and 116 ; ' F. A. S.,' pi. xiv b, figs. 5 and 6. 



3 ' Trans. Zool. Soc. London,' vol. ix, pi. iii, fig. 3, pi. iv, fig. 4, and pi. viii, fig. 5. 



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