Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/471

Rh M A M M O T H 447 MAMMOTH, a name commonly given to one of the numerous extinct forms of Elephant, Elephas primigenius of Blumenbach and most subsequent authors. 1 Prob ably no animal which has not survived to the historic period has left such abundant and well-preserved evidence of its former existence. The discovery of immense numbers, not only, as in the case of most extinct creatures, in the form of fragmentary bones and teeth, but often as more or less entire carcases, or &quot;mummies&quot; as they may be FIG. 1. &quot;Restored Skeleton of Mammoth (Elephas primigenius). From Tilesius in Mem. Acad. Imp. So. St Petersltourg, t. v. (1815). called, with the flesh, skin, and hair in situ, in the frozen soil of the tundras of northern Siberia, has for a long time given great interest to the species, and been the cause of many legendary stories among the natives of the lands in which they occur. Among these one of the most prevailing is that the Mammoth was, or still is, an animal which passes its life habitually in burrows below the surface of the ground, and which immediately dies if by any chance it comes into the upper air. The general characteristics of the animals of the order Froboscidea, to which the Mammoth belongs, are given in the article MAMMA.LIA. (p. 423). Its position is also there indicated as a member of the most highly specialized section of the group of Elephants, that called by Falcon evEuelephas, which also contains the modern Asiatic species. Of the whole group it is in many respects, as in the size and form of the tusks, and especially the characters of the molar teeth, the farthest removed from the primitive Mastodon-like type, while its nearest surviving relative, E. indicus, has retained the slightly more generalized characters of the Mammoth s contemporaries of more southern climes, E. columbi of America, and E. armeniacus of the Old World, if, indeed, it can be specifically distinguished from them. The tusks or upper incisor teeth were doubtless present in both sexes, but probably of smaller size in the female. In the adult males they often attained the length of from 9 to 10 feet measured along the outer curve. Upon leav ing the head they were directed at first downwards and outwards, then upwards and finally inwards at the tips, 1 The word Mammoth was introduced into the languages of western Europe about two centuries ago from the Kussian, and is thought by Pallas and Nordenskib ld to be of Tartar origin, but others, as Witzen, Strahlenburg, and Howorth have endeavoured to prove that it is a corruption of the Arabic word Behemoth, or great beast. and generally with a tendency to a spiral form not seen in other species of Elephant. Different specimens, however, present great variations in curve, from nearly straight to an almost complete circle. It is chiefly by the characters of the molar teeth that the various extinct modifications of the Elephant type are distinguished. Those of the Mammoth (see fig. 2) differ from the corresponding organs of allied species in (1) great breadth of the crown as compared with the length, (2) the narrowness and crowding or close approximation of the ridges, (3) the thinness of the enamel and its straightness, parallelism, and absence of &quot;crimping&quot; as seen on the worn surface, or in a horizontal section of the tooth. The molars, as in other Elephants, are six in number on each side above and below, suc ceeding each other from before backwards. Of these Dr Falconer gave the prevailing &quot;ridge-formula&quot; (or number of complete enamelled ridges in each tooth) as 4, 8, 12, 12, 16, 24, as in E. indicus. Dr Leith Adams, working from more abundant materials, has shown that the number of ridges of each tooth, especially those at the posterior end of the series, is subject to very great individual variation, ranging in each tooth of the series within the following limits: 3 to 4, 6 to 9, 9 to 12, 9 to 15, 14 to 16, 18 to 27, excluding the small plates called &quot;talons&quot; at each end of the tooth. Besides these variations in the number of ridges or plates of which each tooth is composed, the thickness of the , enamel varies so c much as to have given rise to a distinc tion between a &quot; thick-plated &quot; and a &quot; thin- plated &quot; variety, the latter be ing most pre- FIG. 2. Grinding Surface of Upper Molar Tooth valent among of the Mammoth (Elephas primigenius). From the specimens Owen, c, cementum ; d, dentine ; e, enamel. from the Arctic regions, and most distinctively characteristic of the species. From the specimens with thick enamel plates the transition to the other species or varieties men tioned above, including E. indicus, is almost imperceptible. The bones of the skeleton generally more resemble those of the Indian Elephant than of any other known species, but the skull differs, in the narrower summit, narrower temporal fossae, and more prolonged incisive sheaths, required to support the roots of the enormous tusks. Among the external characters by which the Mammoth was distinguished from either of the existing species of Elephant was the dense clothing, not only of long coarse outer hair, but also of close under woolly hair, of a reddish- brown colour, evidently in adaptation to the colder climate which it inhabited. This character, for a knowledge of which we are indebted to the well-preserved remains found in northern Siberia, is also represented in the rude but