﻿ELEPHAS ANTIQUUS— MANDIBLE. 



55 



E. Africanus, E. Namadicus, and the Maltese forms, instead of being circular in contour, 

 is more parabolic, and widens upwards towards the neck of the condyle. 



The gutter in the above specimen is not so open as in the Mammoth nor so narrow as 

 in E. meridionalis and the African, and is more like the symphysial canal of the Asiatic. 



In the ramus, 40,840, B. M., containing an ultimate molar, described at p. 40, the 

 diasteme is also nearly vertical, with the mentary foramina at a distance from its free 

 border. The large opening is as usual just under the anterior fang. The symphysial 

 canal is 5 - 3 inches in length, and the jaw is 7 inches in height at the base of the coronoid 

 process. 



The mandible containing the ultimate molars, referred to at p. 39, from Cromer 

 Jetty, shows a large foramen four inches below the crown in front. The diasteme is erect, 

 with a small scar of the rostrum which is wanting. The mental foramina are within 

 1^ inches of the free margin. 



Another, No. 361, of Mr. Gunn's collection shows the above-mentioned foramen in 

 the same position. The diasteme is injured, but indications of the mentary foramina are 

 seen within a distance of about 1^ inches of the free margin. The contour of the 

 ascending ramus is decidedly African. These represent aged individuals. 



A ramus of the lower jaw of Elephas Namadicus in the British Museum is figured in 

 the 'Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis,' plate xii c, fig. 4; it contains the entire last molar already 

 noticed at p. 44 ; and presents all the characters of the foregoing rami. The diasteme is 

 also nearly vertical. Dr. Falconer states that the coronoid portion of the ramus shelves 

 out more, and the mentary foramina are placed higher than in E. antiquus} As regards 

 these distinctions between the specimen, also fig. 5 of the same plate, and mandibles 

 of E. antiquus, I fail to discover any marked differences whatever. The uncertainty as to 

 numbers and exact position of the mentary foramina have been demonstrated by the pre- 

 ceding specimens, whilst a comparison between them and the jaws in question, together 

 with the ramus of E. antiquus, plate xiii b, fig. 4, gives no appreciable differences. 



As regards relative dimensions, although generally the mandible of E. antiquus con- 

 taining the last true molar is relatively larger than the usual specimens of recent species, 

 still there are lower jaws of the latter as large as many of the foregoing ; so that the Elephas 

 antiquus sometimes maintained the mandibular, and, as will also be shown presently, the 

 general osteological proportions, met with in individuals of the living species. 



With reference to the characters of the lower jaw in living and extinct species, I find 

 in comparing the varied materials in the different museums, that as regards, 1, 

 the contour of the chin, 2, direction of the diasteme, 3, general contour of the 

 horizontal ramus, 4, contour of the ascending ramus posteriorly, 5, relative aspects of the 

 symphysial canal, 6, position of the mentary foramina, there is a close relationship 

 between the jaws of Elephas antiquus, E. Namadicus, and the Maltese fossil forms. On 



i < Pal. Mem.,' i, p. 437. 



