Page:Mammalia (Beddard).djvu/251

 also used thunderbolts. One of the giants was not slain, but was compelled to stand and bear up the heavens. Atlas holds thus the position of the Elephant supporting the globe of Indian mythology.



The genus Dinotherium, sole representative of the family Dinotheriidae, differs in a number of important particulars from the true Elephants. In the Elephants, if there is but a single pair of incisors, these are found in the upper jaw; in Dinotherium there is apparently but a single pair, but these are implanted in the lower jaw, the symphysis of which is much prolonged and greatly bent downwards, so that the tusks emerge at right angles to the long axis of the head, and are even bent backwards. The molar teeth are five in number on each side of each jaw and are bi- or tri-lophodont, not unlike those of the Tapir. There is no cement in the valleys between the ridges of these teeth, and there is a regular succession, the premolars being two and the molars three. All the teeth are in use at the same time,