Deinotherium

Deinotherium, giant extinct mammal related to the elephant. The biggest species was up to 4.5 m (15 ft) tall and weighed over 18 tons, making it one of the largest land mammals known. Deinotherium had a longer neck and somewhat longer legs than modern types of elephants. Its skull was relatively long and flat, and it evidently had a large trunk. Its teeth had a different shape from those of modern elephants and deinotherium lacked tusks in the upper jaw. A remarkable feature of the deinotherium was a pair of long, downward-curving pointed incisors growing from its lower jaw. These unusual “chin” tusks may have been used to strip bark from trees or to shred plants.

The deinotherium was common during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs in Europe, Western Asia, and Africa. It survived into the Pleistocene Epoch in East Africa, living alongside early forms of humans. Unlike mammoths and mastodons, deinotheriums never reached the Americas.

A recent theory suggests that legends of the cyclops, the one-eyed giant in Homer’s Odyssey, may be based on fossil skulls of deinotherium. People in ancient Greece who found a skull might have mistaken the round nostril opening in the middle of the animal’s forehead for a huge central eye socket.

Deinotherium was one of the first giant extinct mammals described by scientists in Europe in the 19th century. Its scientific name Deinotherium was formed from Greek words meaning “terrible beast.” Deinotherium was known only from fossil skulls for many years and was even wrongly identified by some early paleontologists as a giant tapir or as a giant sea cow. Its relationship to elephants was confirmed in 1853 when limb bones were found. Complete skeletons were known by the end of the 19th century.

Scientific classification: The deinotherium belongs to the order Proboscidea, family Deinotheriidae.