19/94
[ stop the slideshow ]

Head of the early ancestor of elephants

Head of the early ancestor of elephants.jpg Tooth of Mastodon and of MammothThumbnailsKoch's Hydrarchus. Composed of Portions of the Skeletons of Several ZeuglodonsTooth of Mastodon and of MammothThumbnailsKoch's Hydrarchus. Composed of Portions of the Skeletons of Several ZeuglodonsTooth of Mastodon and of MammothThumbnailsKoch's Hydrarchus. Composed of Portions of the Skeletons of Several ZeuglodonsTooth of Mastodon and of MammothThumbnailsKoch's Hydrarchus. Composed of Portions of the Skeletons of Several Zeuglodons

Head of the early ancestor of elephants—Meritherium—as it appeared in life. Observe the absence of a trunk and the enlarged front tooth in the upper jaw, which is converted in later members of the elephant-stock or line of descent into the great tusk. (After a drawing by Prof. Osborne.)