Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London/Volume 33/Observations on Remains of the Mammoth and other Mammals from Northern Spain
My friend Mr. O'Reilly, Professor of Mineralogy to the Royal College of Science, Dublin, has kindly permitted me to examine a collection of fossil remains made by himself and Professor Sullivan, of Queen's College, Cork, when engaged in surveying the mineralogy and geology of the province of Santander.
The conditions under which the remains were found are fully detailed in the able reports of these gentlemen, published in the 4th volume of the 'Atlantis,' and reprinted in a separate volume entitled 'Notes on the Geology and Mineralogy of the Spanish Provinces of Santander and Madrid.'
It appears that, during the sinking of a shaft in search of calamine in limestone underlying the dolomite of the valley of Udias, the workmen, at about 12 metres from the surface, suddenly broke into a cavern of considerable dimensions. At the north end of the cavity was a mound of soil which had fallen down a funnel blocked up at the time of the discovery by surface-soil and débris. Close to this mound were found many bones of mammals and birds. The remains were either partially or entirely buried in calamine, which covered the floor and formed an enormous bed of variable thickness. It appears, therefore, not only from the large funnel, which was evidently the original opening, but also from the remains, that the cavern was an enlarged joint or rock-fissure, into which the entire carcasses or else the live animals had been precipitated from time to time.
The following, I am informed, does not represent the entire produce of the cave (or, as it is named, the Dolores Mine). The authors refer further to a long curved tooth, oval in transverse section, possibly the canine of Hippopotamus.
This identification of remains of the Mammoth in Spain is, as far as I know, the first authenticated instance of the kind, and therefore important in relation to the southern distribution of the species; for although the elephant-remains found in many parts of Europe have been referred to the latter, it is well known that teeth of Elephas antiquus, Elephas meridionalis, and the so-called Elephas armeniacus have been confounded with molars of the Mammoth. Moreover the asserted presence of remains of Elephas africanus in Pleistocene deposits[1] near Madrid is another highly important incident in connexion with Spain, whilst Mr. Smith, of Jordan Hill, discovered a molar of Elephas antiquus at Gibraltar[2].
The following remains belonging to Professor O'Reilly's collection I have been enabled to identify.
Elephas Primigenius.
1. A portion of a mandible containing the sockets of two molars on either side. The descending ramus and coronoid process, with the diasteme and portions of the alveoli, are deficient. The jaw is evidently that of a young elephant, and probably belonged to the owner of the following molars. It has the round oval chin of the Mammoth.
There are a few laminations of tusks, but of no use for descriptive purposes.
2. A right upper first true molar, about half-worn. It is entire excepting the loss of the tips of the fangs. There is a broad pressure-mark, or hollow, of the advancing tooth behind. The crown holds 12 plates and 2 talons in a length of 5 inches. The maximum breadth of crown is 2⋅3 inches.
The enamel of the plates is thicker than usually observed in Arctic specimens, and in that respect is more like mammoths' teeth from the brick-earth of the Thames valley. There is, moreover, a greater roughening of the outer surface of the enamel, which on the worn disk produces a faint crimping not generally observed in northern specimens; otherwise the tooth is un distinguishable from the same molar of the mammoth.
3. Two fragments of germ molars:—
a. A fragment of an upper tooth, holding 8–9 posterior ridges, including a broad, flat, digitated talon. The plates are of precisely the same character as in the preceding tooth, but longer and broader.
b. Three plates and posterior talon of a similar tooth to a, and most probably the fellow of the opposite maxilla. These two fragments are probably portions of the second or successional molars of the same individual as the owner of the first true molar and the above mandible.
4. a. A left os innominatum of a young elephant, the unions of the three elements being unankylosed. There is a loss of only a portion of the posterior aspect of the ilium and distal extremities of the ischium and pubis. The contour of the thyroid foramen is nearly entire, showing the narrow upper portion which characterizes this opening in the Mammoth and Asiatic elephant as compared with that of E. africanus. The obturator notch is also broader than in the latter. The bone has altogether the character of the same part of the Mammoth. The acetabulum is 16 centimetres in diameter by 8 centimetres in depth.
b. Fragment of the ischium, right side, probably of the same individual as the owner of a.
5. a. Portion of a left femur two feet in length extending from behind the great trochanter to the condyles. The bone has the slender character of the thigh-bone of the Mammoth, agreeing, moreover, with it in the longer neck and wider interspace between the condyles as compared with the African elephant. The former character is shown in a drawing taken by Mr. O'Reilly on the spot where the remains were discovered, and from other femora from the same cavern and not now in his possession; they are of the left side, and represent a youthful and a full-grown elephant.
b. A fragment of about a foot of the distal extremity of a right femur, including condyles, and of possibly the same individual as that of the first-named fragment.
6. A portion of a right radius, showing about 6 inches of the proximal extremity. Evidently, from the round and smooth shaft, it belonged to an adolescent individual.
Bos Primigenius?
1. Fragments of large horn-cores of different individuals.
2. A right ramus, without teeth. Length 18 inches.
3. A right scapula, showing glenoid cavity, a fragment of the spine, and the greater portion of the body. The glenoid cavity is 2⋅8 inches by 2⋅2 inches.
4. The proximal half of a radius and ulna, right side. The breadth of the articular surface of the former is 4 inches.
5. Several dorsal and lumbar vertebrae of an individual about the same dimensions as the owner of the preceding bones.
6. a. An entire left femur, recently broken. Length 19 inches; width of head 3 inches. Antero-posterior diameter of distal extremity 6⋅6 inches. Smallest diameter of the shaft 2⋅1 inches.
b. A lower half of a right femur of evidently the same animal.
7. Entire right and left tibiæ. Length 16⋅5 inches.
These bovine remains appear for the most part to have belonged to one individual; and, as in the case of the elephant, bones of young and immature individuals predominated, from which it might be inferred that from inexperience they would have been more likely than the adult animal to fall into gaping rents.
Cervus elaphus?
1. Fragments of beam, brow-antlers, and snags of a large stag, of about the dimensions of a full-grown horn of red-deer.
2. Humerus of right side, with loss of the proximal and distal epiphyses, youthful.
3. Fragments of ribs.
4. Dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, with entire sacrum.
5. Nearly entire ossa innominata.
6. Eight and left entire femora, each 12 inches in length.
7. Left tibia entire, 13⋅5 inches in length.
These cervine remains agree with the same bones of Cervus elaphus, and very probably in great part belonged to one individual.
Discussion.
Mr. Warington W. Smyth referred to a visit which he had paid some years ago to the part of Spain referred to in the paper, and described the curious characters of the rocks, and the occurrence in them of extraordinary caverns of great depth.
Mr. Evans inquired how near to the spot in question remains of Elephas primigenius had been found in the south of France. He also inquired whether the small curved tooth might not be the tusk of a little Elephant.
The Author, in reply, stated that the Mammoth had occurred in France near Lyons, where Dr. Falconer had identified teeth in the museum. In Western Europe the species had not previously been met with south of the Pyrenees. Some of the bones were in red soil; one femur was incrusted with calamine. The small tooth was of a form which seemed to show that it was the canine of a Hippopotamus; and there was no reason why it should not be so.