24 
THE UPNOR ELEPHANT 
The upper molars are alike, and show twelve plates with a posterior talon.* 
A certain number of plates, estimated at four at the most, have been worn away 
anteriorly. They are 221 millimeters in length, 83 in breadth, and have a maximum 
depth of 150. The laminar frequence f is five. 
The lower molar shows a posterior talon and ten plates, a certain number 
must have been worn away in front. The length of the remaining part is 231 milli- 
metres, the breadth 70, and depth 123. The laminar frequence is five, as in the 
upper teeth. 
The enamel is fairly thick (about 4 millimetres). It is coarsely folded and 
without any fine secondary wrinklings. The diamond lozenges are well marked 
on the lower molar, less so on the upper teeth. 
Summary. 
It will be seen from Andrews’ account, especially in the section referring to 
the foot bones (p. 14), that the Upnor specimen shows, when compared with other 
forms, a great mixture of specific characters. The femur, for example, “ resembles 
E. africanus more than E. maximus ” (p. 13), while the astragalus “ on the whole 
is much like that of E. maximus and E. primigenius, and differs from the astragalus 
of E. africanus ” (p. 15), and so on. 
The general result of Andrews’ detailed investigation is that in some characters 
the specimen resembles one form and other forms in other characters, with the result 
that a clear diagnosis is not possible. 
It is a regrettable fact but true that, of the large number of species of 
elephants that have been named and described, a specimen as moderately complete 
even as the present one is a rare exception, and we have as yet no standard by 
which to judge fragments. No full investigation of the range of variation in the 
shape of bones and their articular facets, in variations due to sex or age, in the 
difference in the size of teeth, and so on, has as yet been made on the living species. 
That this has not been done is no doubt easily explained by the difficulty of finding 
a sufficient number of specimens to examine, since at least a hundred would be 
required ; such an investigation is none the less a desideratum, and would do much 
to throw a useful sidelight on the vexed problem presented by the many shades of 
difference seen in the scattered bones and loose teeth of the numerous extinct forms. 
The absence of any definite standard of comparison as well as the absence of 
any complete specimen of E. antiquus prevents us therefore from estimating the 
true value of the two outstanding features of this Upnor specimen, namely the 
* I use the term “ talon ” only when there is a part which in wear cuts as a plate of greater or lesser 
size, but which has no root of its own and joins the root of the preceding plate. 
f i.e. the number of plates in a standard length of 10 centimetres. This index varies somewhat 
in accordance with the wear of the tooth as well as the place of measurement on the tooth surface. The 
unworn plates often show a higher index figure than the worn. Here the measurement is taken at the 
middle plates of the teeth. 
