Deinotherium

Deinotherium by Josef Moravec. Original oil painting 30" x 20". (Framed).
Lived: 10 million to 10,000 years ago – from the Middle Miocene all the way to the Modern Period

* Available for sale to museums and serious art collectors.
* Contact us by e-mail: moravec@prehistory.com

The reproduction of Deinotherium from Pleistocene epoch is available on pictures, art prints, framed pictures, posters and giclee on canvas.

Deinotherium ("terrible beast") was a gigantic prehistoric relative of modern-day elephants that appeared in the Middle Miocene and continued until the Early Pleistocene. During that time it changed very little. In life it probably resembled modern elephants, except that its trunk was shorter, and it had downward curving tusks attached to the lower jaw.

Deinotherium is the third largest land mammal known to have existed; only Indricotherium and Paraceratherium were larger. Males were generally between 3 and 4.5 meters (10 and 15 feet) tall at the shoulders although large specimens may have been up to 5m (16ft). Their weight is estimated to have been between 5 and 10 tonnes, with the largest males weighing in excess of 12 tonnes. Deinotherium's range covered parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Deinotherium is the type genus of the family Deinotheriidae, evolving 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 mastodonts.

***

See more Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Ice Age Animals Oil Paintings in Dinosaur Exhibits

Contact us by e-mail to obtain permission for commercial usage of this image: moravec@prehistory.com

© Copyright Dinosaur Corporation, USA. All rights reserved TM