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molars of elephants

molars of elephants.jpg MyotragusThumbnailsHead of the early ancestor of elephantsMyotragusThumbnailsHead of the early ancestor of elephantsMyotragusThumbnailsHead of the early ancestor of elephantsMyotragusThumbnailsHead of the early ancestor of elephantsMyotragusThumbnailsHead of the early ancestor of elephantsMyotragusThumbnailsHead of the early ancestor of elephants

The crowns of three "grinders" or molars of elephants compared. a is that of an extinct mastodon with four transverse ridges; b is that of the African elephant with nine ridges in use and ground flat; c is that of the mammoth with sixteen narrow ridges in use—the rest, some eight in number, are at the left hand of the figure and not yet in use.