500 On a Pigmy Elephant in the Pleistocene of Cyprus. [Apr. 23, 



tooth, with perhaps an anteriorly decreasing number of rings. This 

 is well shown in a tooth, now in the British Museum collection, doubt- 

 fully ascribed by Mr. Busk* to the first upper true molar of E. Falconeri. 

 This is not so much the case in the Cyprus specimens, in which the 

 bands of enamel only remain thus separated into several annuli for a 

 very short while after the plate comes into wear. 



The molars vary considerably, some specimens having very broad 

 crowns while others are somewhat narrow. The bands of cement are 

 wide, in perhaps the majority of cases almost, or quite, equalling in 

 width the plates of dentine ; this seems to be the exception and not 

 the rule in the molars of E. melitensis. 



Taking into consideration the several characters in which the teeth 

 of the Cyprus elephant differ from those of all the hitherto described 

 dwarf species (putting on one side E. lamarmorcej from the Pleistocene 

 of Sardinia, the teeth of which are unknown to science) as well as 

 the distinct habitat of the animal, I have come to the conclusion that 

 it is specifically distinct from these other small forms, though possibly 

 they were derived from a common ancestor, and I, therefore, propose to 

 name it Elephas Cypriotes. 



The discovery of the remains of this pigmy elephant, as well as of 

 Hippopotamus mimttus, in Cyprus, is interesting in comparison with 

 the dwarf species from Malta and Sicily, and because the presence 

 of an extinct mammalian fauna in this locality had not previously 

 been recorded. The occurrence of these different, though apparently 

 closely related, races of small elephants in widely separated islands 

 of the Mediterranean, lends probability to the theory that this is a 

 case of independent development along similar lines, the result of 

 similar circumstances and environments. Nevertheless, it would per- 

 haps be wise not to take it for granted, without further evidence, 

 that this diminutive size is wholly and entirely due to specialisa- 

 tion. 



I hope shortly to be able to communicate a more detailed account, 

 with figures and full descriptions, of this collection of elephant remains 

 from Cyprus. 



* ' Zool. Soc. Trans.,' vol. G, PI. 53, fig. 9, p. 295. 



f Dr. Forsyth Major, " Die Tyrrhenis," ' Kosmos,' vol. 7, 1883, p. 7. 



