''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 during the Oligocene then spreading across Europe and the lower latitudes of Asia during the ...

. It is known from late

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

(27- to 28-million-year-old) fossil teeth found in the

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

n district of Chilga. 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, tear ...

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, t ...

'', ''

Deinotherium ''Deinotherium'' (from Ancient Greek , ''()'', meaning "terrible", and ''()'', meaning "beast"), is an extinct genus of large, elephant-like proboscideans that lived from the middle-Miocene until the end of the Early Pleistocene. Although its ap ...

'', 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 ...

, when it was replaced by ''Prodeinotherium''.

References

Further reading