Fossil Elephants and Mastodons. [Lign. 253], 254, 258-260. Owen’s Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam. p. 217, &c.; Wond. pp. 147, 157.—The bones, teeth, and tusks of Elephants, equal in magnitude to, and distinct from the existing African and Asiatic species, are scattered throughout the superficial alluvial and pleistocene accumulations of Europe.
Lign. 254. Mastodon giganteus.
Unworn Molar Tooth: 1/3 nat. size.
Upper Tertiary. Banks of the Hudson, N. America.
The fossil bones and teeth (Pict. Atlas, pl. lxxi. lxxiv.) of these gigantic animals are so abundant, that examples may be found in all the provincial, and in most private collections; and the British Museum possesses an unrivalled series of specimens of both groups of these colossal herbivorous mammalia, namely, the Elephants properly so called and the Mastodons (Petrif. pp. 463, 471). It contains an invaluable series of specimens from the Siwalik hills, presented by Capt. Cautley and Dr. Falconer (Petrif. p. 469); amongst which are remains in which the dental organs present every modification of structure, from that of the mastoid tubercles of the tooth of the Mastodon, to the vertical laminæ of cement, enamel, and dentine of the Elephant. The Museum also possesses the entire skeleton of the Mastodon (Petrif. [Lign. 107]) formerly exhibited by M. Koch, as well as the fine suite of jaws and teeth obtained by the same indefatigable collector. This collection demonstrates that all the bones and teeth, apparently of several species, and, as some have supposed, of distinct genera, belong but to the one grand Mastodon—the M. giganteus of Cuvier; it also clearly proves that the young mastodon had a pair of tusks placed horizontally in the lower jaw; and that but one of these tusks became developed in the adult, and that only in the male.[741]
[741] This remarkable circumstance, in the infancy of palæontological science, gave rise to a very venial error; it was made to constitute the character of a new genus, to which the name Tetracaulodon was applied.
It is therefore unnecessary to enlarge upon this subject, for an inspection of a few specimens will afford the student a clearer insight into the structure of the skeletons and teeth of these animals than any description. The form of the teeth, and the disposition of the dental elements, are illustrated in Wond. p. 143, and Ly. p. 159.
DINOTHERIUM.
Dinotherium. Petrif. p. 474; Wond. p. 173; Bd. i. p. 135, pl. ii.—At Epplesheim, forty miles north-east of Darmstadt, in beds of sand and marl of the median Tertiary formations, the jaws, teeth, skull, and other remains of the Dinothere, one of the most gigantic of terrestrial mammalians, have been discovered; they are preserved in the museum at Darmstadt. The length of the largest species is estimated at eighteen feet. The teeth had previously been found in France, Bavaria, and Austria; and, from their close analogy to those of the Tapir, were described by Cuvier as belonging to an extinct colossal animal of that genus. But subsequent discoveries have shown that the Dinotherium was probably a proboscideal animal, and had two large curved tusks directed downwards in the anterior extremity of the lower jaw.[742]
[742] There are some fine specimens, and good models of the Darmstadt specimens, in the British Museum (Petrif. p. 474).