Could Deinotherium Survive Nowadays?
Deinotherium was an elephant-like animal that roamed the Earth during the middle Miocene until the early Pleistocene. Fossils of these animals have shown them to grow to a height of 4 meters or 13 feet and weigh up to 13 tonnes. They browsed the leaves of forests in East Africa, Europe, and the Indian subcontinent.
Although they looked similar to today's elephants, there were noticeable differences. The most obvious were the tusks. Unlike modern elephants whose tusks grow upwards from the upper jaw, Deinotherium’s tusks curved downwards, growing out from the lower jaw. They were likely used for rooting around in the soil as well as for defense. There have been debates amongst scientists as to what Deinotherium’s trunk was like. In fossilized skulls, there is an obvious gap for a trunk-like appendage. But some have questioned whether this was more like the prehensile trunk of a tapir rather than the long trunk of an elephant. But, given the height at which these giants stood and their relatively inflexible necks and leg joints, it is likely that they had a long trunk to enable them to drink easily without kneeling or bending down too much.
The skull of Deinotherium was less dome-shaped than other prehistoric elephants. Their legs were longer and more slender than today's elephants, suggesting a more cursorial lifestyle, perhaps to evade predators of the Miocene megafauna.
There are several separate species of Deinotherium known to scientists. The three most common were separated by their geographical location. Deinotherium indicum lived throughout India until about 7 million years ago, Deinotherium giganteum lived in Europe until about 5 million years ago, and the most recent to have died out was Deinotherium bozasi inhabiting East Africa, specifically Kenya, until about 1 million years ago.
But could Deinotherium survive today? To answer this, we need to consider their diet and habitat and the climate in which they thrived.
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Could Deinotherium Survive Nowadays?
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