Deinotheriidae

Deinotheriidae is a family of prehistoric elephant-like proboscideans that lived during the Cenozoic era. They first appeared in Africa during the Oligocene then spread across Europe and the lower latitudes of Asia during the Miocene epoch. Their most distinctive features were their lack of upper tusks and downward-curving tusks on the lower jaw.

Deinotheriidae

Alexxx1979 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
deinotherePBDB
Sits inside
EuproboscideaPBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB, for Proboscidea
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Proboscidea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 21 million years on record.

The record covers at least 23.04 Mya to 1.8 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 27.3 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 2 of 257 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 165 of 257 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 51 of 257 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 40 of 257 occurrencesPleistocene28–27 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 5 occurrences19–19 Mya — about 5 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 5 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 6 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 9 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 14 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 14 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 12 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 13 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 12 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 10 occurrences10–9.3 Mya — about 10 occurrences9.3–8.4 Mya — about 12 occurrences8.4–7.4 Mya — about 13 occurrences7.4–6.5 Mya — about 10 occurrences6.5–5.6 Mya — about 9 occurrences5.6–4.6 Mya — about 14 occurrences4.6–3.7 Mya — about 15 occurrences3.7–2.8 Mya — about 19 occurrences2.8–1.9 Mya — about 32 occurrences1.9–928 ka Mya — about 10 occurrences928 ka–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences23.04 Mya1.8 Mya27.8 Mya0 Mya

257 occurrences of Deinotheriidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

257 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

60 formations

Koobi Fora — 3.78°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.22°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.75°N, 36.36°EKoobi Fora — 3.94°N, 36.25°EKoobi Fora — 4.30°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 4.06°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.91°N, 36.38°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 3.08°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.72°ENachukui — 4.00°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.43°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 4.53°N, 35.92°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.76°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EManchar — 26.33°N, 67.83°EMaboko — 0.13°S, 34.61°EMaboko — 0.17°N, 34.62°EMaboko — 0.15°N, 34.62°EHadar — 11.13°N, 40.59°EVogel River Series — 3.22°S, 35.21°EVogel River Series — 3.25°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.13°S, 35.13°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.35°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EVihowa — 30.08°N, 70.33°ESagantole — 10.63°N, 40.54°ESagantole — 10.50°N, 40.58°ESagantole — 10.52°N, 40.47°EChemeron — 0.67°N, 35.83°EChemoigut — 0.65°N, 36.20°EShungura — 5.08°N, 36.03°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.35°N, 9.86°EChinji — 32.68°N, 72.37°EChinji — 32.79°N, 72.93°EKanapoi — 2.37°N, 36.08°EKanapoi — 2.32°N, 36.07°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.88°N, 36.07°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°ETiim — 0.84°N, 35.82°ELukeino — 0.50°N, 35.67°EFejej — 5.00°N, 37.00°EWarwire — 1.50°N, 31.00°EUSNO — 5.33°N, 36.17°ELothidok — 3.33°N, 35.75°ELothidok — 3.22°N, 35.83°EDam — 25.98°N, 49.39°EBalta sands — 49.17°N, 29.16°EBalta sands — 48.57°N, 28.83°E

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The named rock units Deinotheriidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 36 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 113 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Deinotheriidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Deinotheriidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,954 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 244 sites for Deinotheriidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

145 references

Each of the 257 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 133 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Deinotheriidae

Credit
Alexxx1979
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Deinotheriidae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEuproboscidea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Bonaparte 1845