Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
243 / Cenozoic
Deinotherium
Deinotherium giganteum
Only the lower jaw carried tusks, curving downward beneath a body taller than most modern elephants.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 10–1 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Pleistocene
- Geographic range
- Forest and woodland · Africa, Europe and Asia
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Deinotherium?
Deinotherium (Deinotherium giganteum) was an extinct organism known from About 10–1 million years ago, with a range in Forest and woodland · Africa, Europe and Asia.
Life and ecology
Deinotherium was a separate proboscidean branch that browsed leaves and branches. Its lower tusks may have pulled limbs, stripped bark or served display.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Deinotherium disappear?
Cooling, aridity and shrinking forests from the Late Miocene into the Pleistocene reduced its browsing habitats; this is the likely setting, not a demonstrated cause.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Deinotherium?
Abundant skulls, teeth and limbs show high shoulders and lower-jaw tusks; tooth wear identifies a browsing diet.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS