The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-07-15
ELEPHANTS TRUNK.
Egyptian Discoveries Enable Scientific
Men to Solve Its Evolution.

Men to Solve Its Evolution.
The recent discoveries of fossil re-
mains of ancestral proboscideans in the
tertiary deposits of the Fayum district
of the skeleton of certain species Of
mastodon known to science for many
years have enabled DR.. c. w. Andrews
to Indicate very clearly the manner in
which the trunk of the modern ele-
plants has been gradually evolved.
The ancestral proboscideans were COM
paratively small and short-legged ami
mails, which had. of course. no difficulty
in putting their mouths to the ground
AS the successors of these primitive
forms gradually increased in bodily
stature, and more especially in length
of limb and size of head, it will be OBJ
vious that in order to be able to obtain
food or water from the level of the
ground they must either have increased
the length Of the neck or have developed
a special prolongation of the muzzle. But
in the case of large and heavy headed
animals, whose successors We're destined
to carry the enormous tusks of the ex-
tinct mastodons and modern elephants, it
will be further manifest that an increase
in the length of the vertebrae of the neck,
from mechanical considerations, have
been. impossible Accordingly. the only
practical course was the elongation of the
muzZle.
was short and heavy. with the union be-
tween the two branches (symphysis) very
massive. On the other hand, in many of
the early mastodons the lower jaw had
become trough like. symphysis. To accord
with this prolongation of the lower jaw
1t is quite evident that the upper lip and
nose must likewise have been elongated,
and they probably formed a kind of pro-
boscis, of which the tip was most likely
more or less prehensile.
For some reason or other. no sooner had
the, nprolongation of the lower jaw at
the length of it's trough-like symphysis
began to diminish, till the structure Gull
minated in the short snout found in the
plants During these changes the length
of the probiscis must have continued to
increase, while it's flexibility and tactile
power were likewise at the same time aug,
mented, till the structure attained its full
development in the elephants of today. :
In this connection it may be noticed
that the trunk of the African elephant
differs very materially in structure from
that of its Indian cousin. thus indicating
that these two types diverged from the
common ancestral stock at compare
lively early date. In addition. to the
well-known difference in the form of
the tip. the trunk of the African ele
plant Is distinguished from that of the
Indian species by its segmented struc-
ture,. so that it has the appearance OF
pieces, one of which slides into the
other, like the joints of telescope.
The Indians elephants trunk, on the
other hand, is uniformly elastic through
out and may be compared to a tapering
India rubber hosepipe. 1t is evidently a
more highly specialized structure than Is
the proboscis of the African species. Dur
ing the time that the lower jaw and trunk
were being gradually developed into their
present form the tusks and cheek teeth
were likewise undergoing process OF de-
velopment. which has eliminated in the
condition obtaining in the Indian elephant
Till the Egyptian discoveries, the origin
of the proboscidea was problem that had
baff1ed palaeontologists. while evolution
lists were equally at a loss to account for
the mode of origin of that most marvel
GUS structure. the elephants proboscis
Thanks to DIR. Andrews, both problems
have been satisfactorily solved and we are
thus able to add one more fairly complete
pedigree to the history of animal life
London Field.