Deinotherium

Deinotherium is an extinct genus of large, elephant-like proboscideans that lived from the Middle Miocene until the end of the Early Pleistocene. Although its appearance is reminiscent of modern elephants, Deinotherium differered considerably from modern elephants in several anatomical details: it possessed a notably more flexible neck, proportionally more slender limbs, tapir-like teeth, as well as tusks which grew down and curved back from the lower jaw (mandible), and lacked tusks growing from the upper jaw. Several species of Deinotherium grew larger than modern elephants, not uncommonly reaching shoulder heights of 4 metres (13 ft) and body masses of 12 tonnes (26,000 lb), making them among the largest land mammals ever. Deinotherium was a widespread genus: during the Miocene they ranged across East Africa, and Eurasia from Western Europe to the Indian subcontinent. They were browsing animals, with a diet largely consisting of leaves. The genus most likely went extinct due to environmental changes, such as forested areas gradually being replaced by open grasslands, during the latter half of the Neogene. Deinotherium thrived the longest in Africa, where they survived until the end of the Early Pleistocene, around 1 million years ago.

Deinotherium

Alexxx1979 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
DeinotheriinaePBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB, for Proboscidea
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Proboscidea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria
Mass
12 tonneWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 16.9 Mya to 1.8 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 182 occurrencesMiocene — about 97 of 182 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 50 of 182 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 35 of 182 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 2 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 5 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 8 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 7 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 7 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 7 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 8 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 11 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 9 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 7 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 7 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 12 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 13 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 15 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 19 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 20 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 6 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 2 occurrences16.9 Mya1.8 Mya23.5 Mya0 Mya

182 occurrences of Deinotherium on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

182 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

43 formations

Koobi Fora — 3.78°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.22°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.75°N, 36.36°EKoobi Fora — 3.94°N, 36.25°EKoobi Fora — 4.30°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 4.06°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.91°N, 36.38°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 3.08°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.72°ENachukui — 4.00°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.43°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 4.53°N, 35.92°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.76°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EHadar — 11.13°N, 40.59°EVogel River Series — 3.22°S, 35.21°EVogel River Series — 3.25°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.13°S, 35.13°EVihowa — 30.08°N, 70.33°ESagantole — 10.63°N, 40.54°ESagantole — 10.50°N, 40.58°ESagantole — 10.52°N, 40.47°EChemeron — 0.67°N, 35.83°EChemoigut — 0.65°N, 36.20°EKanapoi — 2.37°N, 36.08°EKanapoi — 2.32°N, 36.07°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.88°N, 36.07°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EFejej — 5.00°N, 37.00°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EWarwire — 1.50°N, 31.00°EUSNO — 5.33°N, 36.17°EDam — 25.98°N, 49.39°EBalta sands — 49.17°N, 29.16°EBalta sands — 48.57°N, 28.83°EChitarwata — 30.08°N, 70.33°EChhasra — 23.44°N, 70.99°ELothagam 1 — 2.88°N, 36.07°ETiim — 0.84°N, 35.82°ELukeino — 0.50°N, 35.67°EChiwondo — 10.17°S, 34.00°EUpper Koru Series — 0.23°S, 35.34°EWembere-Manonga — 3.88°S, 33.82°E

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The named rock units Deinotherium has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 19 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 78 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Deinotherium and its relatives

Miocene

Where Deinotherium and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,452 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 174 sites for Deinotherium, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

97 references

Each of the 182 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 85 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Deinotherium

Credit
Alexxx1979
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDeinotheriinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Kaup 1829