Deinotherium

extinct mammals · trunk animals · mega-beasts

Tusks grew backwards. Unlike modern elephants, Deinotherium had long tusks that curved downward and back from its lower jaw, not its upper jaw. This gave it a completely different look from elephants today.

Truly gigantic. Some Deinotherium grew taller than 13 feet at the shoulder and weighed as much as 12 tonnes, making them among the largest land mammals that ever lived, even bigger than modern elephants.

Roamed across continents. These amazing creatures lived across Africa, Europe, Asia, and India during the Miocene period, spreading across huge distances where they could find forests to eat in.

Leaf-eating browsers. Deinotherium had special teeth shaped somewhat like a tapir's and a very flexible neck, perfect for reaching high leaves and branches to munch on all day long.

Lost their forest home. When forests gradually turned into grasslands over millions of years, Deinotherium couldn't adapt, and they slowly went extinct, disappearing in Africa around 1 million years ago.