2014-12-222014-12-221961-08-01Nonehttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/16081NoneThe South African fossil Metarchidiskodon griqua is regarded as indeterminable and hence as a nomen vanum; the generic name thus also falls away. A new method for representing graphically the main dimensional features of elephant molar teeth is applied to the fossil species from southern and East Africa. It is suggested that the genus Palaeoloxodon is not represented in these regions and that most of the extinct elephants must be placed in Archidiskodon. The species distinguished are A. subplanifrons, A. broomi, A. exoptatus, A . recki and A. transvaalensis, while A. africanavus and A. archidiskodontoides are of uncertain status. The North African "Elephas" atlanticus is placed in Loxodonta and the South African species zulu is regarded as a synonym. It is considered that the Pleistocene elephants of Africa have evolved within the continent itself.enElephantidae; Southern AfricaArticle