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Deinotheriidae

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From left to right : Deinotherium Thraceiensis, Deinotherium Giganteum, Deinotherium Proavum, Deinotherium Bozasi, Deinotherium Indicum, Prodeinotherium Bavaricum and Chilgatherium Harrisi.


In life, they probably resembled modern elephants, except that their trunk was shorter. Their most distinctive feature was the downward curving tusks on the lower jaw. Deinotheres were not very diverse, there are only three known genera: Chilgatherium, Prodeinotherium and Deinotherium. The body shape and proportions of deinotheres were very much like those of modern elephants.The legs were long, like modern elephants, but the skull was rather flatter than that of true elephants.

The oldest known deinothere is Chilgatherium which was quite small.These modest-sized proboscideans were later replaced by much larger forms like Deinotherium Thraceiensis. In Europe, Prodeinotherium bavaricum appeared and was soon replaced by the bigger species Deinotherium which is Deinotherium giganteum.Deinotheres had grown to the size from small elephants to the size of some Mammoths. Prodeinotherium appeared in Asia and was later replaced by Deinotherium Indicum. Prodeinotherium which also appeared in Africa was succeeded by Deinotherium bozasi. Deinotherium indicum died out about 7 million years ago, possibly driven to extinction by the same process of climate change that had previously eliminated the even more enormous Paraceratherium.

After the extinction of the indricotheres, the deinotheres were the largest animals walking the Earth. They had become the largest land animals of their time. The last deinothere species to become extinct was Deinotherium bozasi.



Reference :

Most Deinotheres in this image is based on the skeletal reconstruction by Asier Larramendi.

Larramendi, A. 201X. Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans. Acta. Palaeontologica Polonica XX (X): xxx–xxx. dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.00136.2…
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KaijuDuke's avatar
Any scientific speculation for why the tusks were positioned that way?