Zool. [ad. mod.L. Loxodonta pl. (Cuvier), f. Gr. λοξ-ός oblique + ὀδοντ-, ὀδούς tooth.] ‘A sub-genus of elephants, so called from the rhomb-shaped discs of the worn molars’ (Ogilvie, 1882).
1857. Falconer, in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc., XIII. 315. For this subgeneric group [of Elephants] the name of Loxodon, first indicated by Frederick Cuvier, has been adopted. Ibid., 321. Two of the Loxodons,… have a ridge-formula which is identical or nearly so with that of Stegodon insignis.
1863. Lyell, Antiq. Man, xxii. 438. A remarkable dwarf species … has been discovered belonging, like the existing E. Africanus, to the group Loxodon.
So Lozodont. a. adj. Having teeth like those of an elephant belonging to the group Loxodon. b. sb. An elephant with this dentition.
In recent Dicts.
