Description[]
Deinotherium was a mighty proboscidian, of Pliocene Africa. The name means 'Terrible Beast'. At 10-14 tonnes, 5 metres tall at the shoulder and 8 metres from tusk to tail, this truly was a magnificent beast of a mammal.
It had strange down curving tusks, several feet long. They may have been used for stripping bark from trees to chew with their massive molars. They were roughly 3 times bigger than ordinary Elephants, and lived between 11 and 2 Million Years Ago.
Extinction[]
Deinotherium may have died out due to severe, relatively abrupt climate changes which saw their habitat become too dry. Along with the other ancient mammals such as the Chalicothere Ancylotherium, they became extinct. Deinotherium would have been highly aggressive, and the largest animal in its ecosystem by a substantial margin, even considering the large Ancylotherium. Our ancestors, Australopithecus, would have encountered these animals around 3.2 Million Years Ago. They probably had intense fear over the mere sight of a Deinotherium, which would have charged anything they deemed to be a threat. Whether or not Deinotherium would be hostile to Australopithecus is unknown, though perhaps if a Deinotherium was in a particularly aggressive state of behaviour, then it could be a considerable danger to be around.