Deinotherium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Deinotherium Temporal range: Middle Miocene - Early Pleistocene |
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| Illustration of Deinotherium | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Suborder: | †Deinotheroidea |
| Family: | †Deinotheriidae |
| Subfamily: | †Deinotheriinae |
| Genus: | †Deinotherium Kaup, 1829 |
| Species | |
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D. bozasi (Arambourg, 1934) |
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The Deinotherium or ‘terrible beast’ was a large prehistoric mammal similar to modern day elephants. Although similar to today’s elephants, there are a handful of differences such as a shorted trunk and downward curving tusks. There were several species of Deinotherium that inhabited parts of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Deinotherium was also much bigger than today’s elephants and is currently thought to have been the third largest land mammal ever to exist.
