Deinotherium

Jurassic World: Alive Artwork

***Deinotherium*** was one of the largest animals of the Late Miocene-Middle Pliocene, and likely the Early Pleistocene. The length of the body from different species ranged from 3.5–7 metres, and the height at the shoulders reaching 3–5 m (average 3.5–4 m), and weight can be up to 8–10 m. On the surface they resembled modern elephants but the proportions differed from them. Typically, the trunk was relatively hollow, shortened and remained at high, but massive columnar limbs, indicating they are somewhat different than other Proboscidea functions.

The body is rather short on a long tail. Compared with other proboscids, *Deinotherium* had a rather long and flexible neck, which allowed the structure to lift and bend its head and turn it from side to side. This structure is associated with the ability to lift its head up and make its tusks work. In the normal position of the head, it was positioned horizontally and was in the same place with the neck of the animal. It was potentially one of the biggest proboscids of all time, and was one of the largest land-mammals of all time, earning its respect amongst huge titans like Indricotherium.

## Taxonomy and evolution

*Deinotherium* is the type genus of the family Deinotheriidae, which evolved from the smaller, early Miocene *Prodeinotherium*. These proboscideans represent a totally distinct line of evolutionary descent to that of other elephants, one that probably diverged very early in the history of the group as a whole. The large group to which elephants belong formerly contained several other related groups: besides the deinotheres, there were the gomphotheres (some of which had shovel-like lower front teeth), and the mastodons. Only elephants survive today.

Three species are recognized, all of great size. *Deinotherium giganteum* is the type species, and is described above. It is primarily a late Miocene species, most common in Europe, and is the only species known from the circum-Mediterranean. Its last reported occurrence is from the middle Pliocene of Romania (2 to 4 million BP). An entire skull, found in the Lower Pliocene beds of Eppelsheim, Hesse-Darmstadt in 1836, measured 4 ft (1.2 m) in length and 3 ft (.9 meters) in breadth, indicating an animal exceeding modern elephants in size. *Deinotherium indicum* is the Asian species, known from India and Pakistan. It is distinguished by a more robust dentition and p4-m3 intravalley tubercles. *D. indicum* appears in the middle Miocene, and is most common in the late Miocene. It disappears from the fossil record about 7 million years BP (late Miocene). *Deinotherium bozasi* is the African species. It is characterized by a narrower rostral trough, a smaller but higher nasal aperture, a higher and narrower cranium, and a shorter mandibular symphysis, than the other two species. *D. bozasi* appears at the beginning of the late Miocene, and continues there after the other two species have died out elsewhere. The youngest fossils are from the Kanjera Formation, Kenya, about a million years old (early Pleistocene).

## Description

Compared with the massive body, the skull of *Deinotherium* was relatively small, with the characteristic tusks in the lower jaw. Projecting from the jaw of the tusks could reach up to 1 m, but was usually smaller. It is not excluded that the tusks were playing an important role in the social life of these animals, acting, for example, as a tournament of arms of males in the breeding season but were used for getting food. Animals could bend down and break off branches from trees, as well as strip bark from tree trunks for eating. Today it is believed that they inhabited the woodlands and ate soft enough plants (e.g. leaves and fruits), which were probably abundant during the Pleistocene, due to the stability of the Earth during the Cenozoic.

The deinotheres were the gigantic cousins of the elephants and flourished at the time of *Australopithecus*. Tusks in the elephant family varied in shape and size as they adapted for different purposes. Wear marks on the downward curved tusks of *Deinotherium* suggest that they were probably used for stripping tree bark. With such a large increase in lifestyle and the ability to look up high were indispensable. Their food was taken down and brought to the mouth by the trunk; hooked lower tusks in feeding played a complementary role (for example, they helped to bend down and break off branches of trees). In addition, with tusks, animals could sometimes break down bark and soft inner bark. The process of obtaining food was likely related to a significant mobility of the forelimbs, which could allow *Deinotherium* a wider range of movement than modern elephants. We can assume that their department could seize carpal and turn down branches or small stems. The tusks served a function only because of this bizarre shape.

## Fossils

*Deinotherium* remains, particularly their tusks and teeth, have been found at the major hominid excavation sites where *Australopithecus* has also been found, including Hadar, Laetoli, Olduvai Gorge and Lake Turkana, meaning that it probably shared its environment with our early ancestors.

## Paleoecology

Several key adaptations suggest that Deinotherium was a folivorous, browsing proboscidean that preferred open woodland habitats and fed on the leaves of the tree canopy. In Asia D. indicum has been associated with wet and warm, low-energy woodland and in Portugal deinotheriid remains were found in regions corresponding with moist, tropical to subtropical woodland conditions likened to modern Senegal. A browsing lifestyle is supported by the inclination of the occiput that gives Deinotherium a slightly more raised head posture, and their teeth, which strongly resemble those of modern tapirs, animals that predominantly feed on fruits, flowers, bark and leaves. Their limbs show some notable differences to Prodeinotherium, allowing for a more agile mode of locomotion and allowing for easier travel across open landscapes in the search of food, which coincides with the widespread breakup of forests and expansion of grasslands during the time Deinotherium lived in Europe. Fossil finds from the Austrian Gratkorn locality and the Mainz Basin in Germany indicate that Deinotherium was not a permanent resident in some areas it inhabited. In Austria it has been suggested that they traversed areas on a regular basis, while in Germany there is evidence for the animals range shifting with changing climatic conditions, present during subtropical climate conditions and absent in sub-boreal conditions.
One of the most enigmatic features of Deinotherium are their downturned tusks and their function. Research conducted on Deinotherium suggests that these tusks were likely not used for digging, nor are they sexually dimorphic, leaving use in feeding as their most likely function. These tusks exhibit patterns of wear, in particular on their medial and caudal sides. In a 2001 paper Markov and colleagues argue that Deinotherium could have used its tusks to remove branches that would have gotten in the way of feeding, while using the proboscis to transport leaf material into its mouth. From there Deinotherium would have used a powerful tongue (inferred based on a notable trough at the front of the symphysis) to further manipulate its food. Different tusk anatomy in young individuals would suggest altered feeding strategies in juveniles.

## Miscellaneous Information

The "deino" in *Deinotherium* derives from the same root as the "dino" in dinosaur—this "terrible mammal" (actually a kind of prehistoric elephant) was one of the largest non-dinosaurian animals ever to roam the earth, rivaled only by large mammoths and the rhinoceros *Paraceratherium*. Apart from its sizable (about 5 to 10 ton) weight, the most notable feature of *Deinotherium* was its short, downward-curving tusks, so different from the usual elephant appendages that puzzled 19th-century paleontologists reassembled them upside down.

*Deinotherium* was not directly ancestral to modern-day elephants, instead inhabiting a side branch along with relatives like *Amebelodon* and *Platybelodon*. A few species of *Deinotherium* managed to persist into historical times, until they either succumbed to changing climatic conditions or were either hunted to extinction by early humans. Some experts have speculated that these creatures inspired numerous ancient tales of massive beasts roaming the earth, though *Deinotherium* was far from the only giant mammal to have inspired our ancient ancestors.

## Appearance in other media

### *Jurassic Park*

* The Deinotherium is a Legendary cenozoic creature in Jurassic World: The Game.

* Deinotherium appeared in Jurassic World: Alive as a rare creature.