Page 39 - Prehistoric Animals

Dyn-O-Thear-Eum

Deinotherium

Deinotherium, (Terrible beast)
roamed the earth in early Miocene
through to mid Pleistocene, about 40 to
50 million years ago. The genus Deino-
therium was first named by Johann
Jakob Kaup in 1829. However, Fossils of
Deinotherium were reputed to have
been discover by a French surgeon
named Matsorier in the 17 century.
th

Today many different species of
the genus Deinotherium have been
found across the globe; in Europe, Afri-
ca and Asia. The size of Deinotherium
varies across the different species; D.
thraceiensis being the largest, standing
at the shoulder’s around 4.5 metres tall
and weighing in at around 13 tonnes.

Although the genus Deinotherium,
may look like, and are in the same
group, proboscidean*, as the elephant,
they do differ from the Elephant. They
are much taller. They have slightly thinner and longer legs. Their neck is longer and more flexible.
The most striking difference, however, is the position and curvature of their tusks. In most spe-
cies of the Elephant the tusks protrude from the upper jaw in a sweeping upward curve. The De-
inotherium tusks protrude from the front of their lower jaw, and curve sharply downwards.

Ever since their discovery, the tusks of the Deinotherium have been a constant subject for
speculation. Being a herbivore, some speculate they were used for scrapping or digging in the
ground for tasty roots or tubers. Other say they were used to hook branches, pulling them down
or snapping them off to gain access to leaves or vegetation. Some say they were for identification.
The mid Pleistocene period was known as the time of the elephant, when elephants had reached
their peak and were in their greatest numbers roaming the planet. The tusk of the Deinotherium
could have been used to identify or recognise other Deinotherium roam-
ing among the other elephant species.

At its height Deinotherium had spread across Europe, Asia and into Afri-
ca. But as climate change took hold and temperatures dropped it eventu-
ally died out in Europe and Asia. However it’s known to have survived in
Africa until sometime in the Pleistocene when it eventually disappeared
just over a million years ago.
*Are a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and
several extinct families