ELEPHANTID.E. 107 



the Narbada Valley, India. Figured (without specific 

 determination) by Falconer and Cautley, op. cit. pi. lvi. 

 figs. 13, 13 a. 



Pressnted by C. Fraser, Esq., 1849. 



'o k 



Elephas meridionalis, Nesti 1 . 



Syn. Loxodon meridionalis, auct. 



Leith- Adams 2 gives the ridge-formula, exclusive of talons, ap- 

 proximately as Mm. Liif, M. <|^g^^; to© ciphers being very 

 similar to those of E. planifrons, but with a rather higher average. 

 The cheek-teeth usually so closely resemble those of the latter 

 species, that if they both occurred in the same area it is more than 

 doubtful if they could be specifically distinguished. Both fre- 

 quently exhibit partial denudation of the enamel-ridges when much 

 worn. There is considerable variation in the thickness of the 

 enamel and in the breadth of the ridges ; and some of those molars 

 in which the enamel is relatively thin and considerably plicated, 

 and the ridges narrow and closely approximated, approach very 

 near to some molars of E. hysudricus and E. antiquus 3 , — the 

 resemblance being greatest when the teeth are much worn. The 

 cranium 4 is characterized by the large, slightly-curved incisors 

 and the diverging incisive alveoli 5 . In general contour it is 

 intermediate between E. planifrons and E. hysudricus, although 

 nearer to the latter than the former 6 . It agrees with the former 

 to a certain extent in the relative distance between the nasals and 

 the vertex; but has the vertex more vaulted, the frontal profile 

 concave 7 , the occiput with a deep fissure for the nuchal ligament, 

 and the temporal fossae intruding largely on the frontal aspect. 

 These features are, however, not so strongly developed as in E. 

 hysudricus, and the present species may be regarded as one which, 

 while retaining a dentition very like that of E. planifrons, has a 

 cranium more closely resembling that of E. hysudricus, and thus 

 forming a connecting link between the two, although it cannot 

 probably be regarded as the directly intermediate species. The 

 species attained an enormous size, the height of some individuals 



1 Nuov. Giorn. Letter. 1825, p. 195, teste Meyer. 



2 British Fossil Elephants (Mori. Pal. Soc), p. 208. 

 s Ibid. p. 199, note. 



4 Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis, pis. xlii., xliv. fig. 19 (lettered E. antiqims). 

 6 Leith- Adams says that the incisive alveoli are nearly parallel. 



6 See ' Falconer's Palaeontological Memoirs,' vol. ii. p. 126. 



7 In the 'Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis,' pi. xliv. fig. 19, this concavity is not 

 sufficiently marked ; see ' Falconer's Pakeontological Memoirs,' vol. ii. p. 124. 



