Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/347

Rh Oligocene Beds. From the latter horizon the mandible of an animal closely allied to Mastodon was obtained. In this two premolars and three molars are in place simultaneously, and none of the teeth have more than three transverse ridges. From the Upper Eocene came portions of the skeleton of a heavily built animal, the teeth of which somewhat resemble those of Dinotherium, but there are three premolars and three molars in both upper and lower jaws, and all the molar teeth are bilophodont except the last lower molar, which has a well-developed talon. The mandible is provided with a pair of procumbent tusks. The especial interest of these new forms is that hitherto no Proboscidea earlier than the Miocene were known. At the beginning of that period Mastodon and Dinotherium appeared in Europe, the region from which they were derived being uncertain. It now appears that they must have originated in the Ethiopian region, the tertiary vertebrate fauna of which has up till now been almost unknown. Numerous remains of Sirenians, Zeuglodonts, and various reptiles and fishes were also collected.— (Geological Department, British Museum).