''Chilgatherium'' ('Chilga beast' after the locality in which it was found) is the earliest and most primitive representative of the family

Deinotheriidae Deinotheriidae ("terrible beasts") is a family of prehistoric elephant-like proboscideans that lived during the Cenozoic era, first appearing in Africa, then spreading across southern Asia (Indo-Pakistan) and Europe. During that time, they cha ...

. It is known from late Oligocene (27- to 28-million-year-old) fossil teeth found in the

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n district of

Chilga Chilga (Amharic: ጭልጋ ''č̣ilgā'') also Chelga, Ch'ilga is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. It is named after its chief town Chilga (also known as Ayikel), an important stopping point on the historic Gondar- Sudan trade route. Part o ...

. So far, only a few molar

teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, t ...

have been found, but these are distinct enough that this animal can be identified with confidence. The teeth differ from those of ''

Prodeinotherium ''Prodeinotherium'' is an extinct representative of the family Deinotheriidae that lived in Africa, Europe, and Asia in the early and middle Miocene. ''Prodeinotherium'', meaning "before terrible beast", was first named in 1930, but soon after, ...

'', ''

Deinotherium ''Deinotherium'' was a large elephant-like proboscidean that appeared in the Middle Miocene and survived until the Early Pleistocene. Although superficially resembling modern elephants, they had notably more flexible necks, limbs adapted to a mo ...

'', and the various barytheres in various details, enough to show that this is a distinct type of animal, and has been placed in its own subfamily. Compared to later deinotheres, ''Chilgatherium'' was quite small, about tall at the shoulder and weighed about . It is not known if it shared the distinctive downward-curving tusks on the lower jaw that the later deinotheres had. ''Chilgatherium'' disappeared prior to the Early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, where ''Prodeinotherium'' occurred, instead.

References

* Gugliotta, Guy (2003) Six New Species of Prehistoric Mammals Discovered in Africa Find Proves Elephants Originated on Continent, Scientist Says, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', Thursday, December 4, 2003; Page A02 * Sanders, W.J., Kappelman, J. & Rasmussen, D. T., (2004), New large-bodied mammals from the late Oligocene site of Chilga, Ethiopia. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' Vol. 49, no.3, pp. 365–39
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q2586290 Deinotheriids Oligocene proboscideans Prehistoric placental genera Oligocene mammals of Africa Fossil taxa described in 2004