Star Formation Histories of Nearby Elliptical Galaxies. II. Merger Remnant Sample

This work presents high $S/N$ spectroscopic observations of a sample of sixsuspected merger remnants, selected primarily on the basis of H{\sc i} tidaldebris detections. Single stellar population analysis of these galaxiesindicates that their ages, metallicities, and $\alpha$-enhancement ratios areconsistent with those of a representative sample of nearby elliptical galaxies.The expected stellar population of a recent merger remnant, young age combinedwith low [$\alpha$/Fe], is not seen in any H{\sc i}-selected galaxy. However,one galaxy (NGC~2534), is found to deviate from the $Z$-plane in the senseexpected for a merger remnant. Another galaxy (NGC~7332), selected by othercriteria, best matches the merger remnant expectations.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accepted by A