Deinotheriidae

Deinotheriidae ("terrible beasts") is a family of prehistoric elephant-like proboscideans that lived during the Tertiary period, first appearing in Africa, then spreading across southern Asia (Indo-Pakistan) and Europe. During that time they changed very little, apart from growing much larger in size - by the late Miocene they had become the largest land animals of their time. Their most distinctive feature was the downward curving tusks on the lower jaw.

Deinotheres were not very diverse; there are only three known genera: Chilgatherium; Prodeinotherium; and Deinotherium. These form an evolutionary succession (with each new genus replacing the preceding one).

Unlike the various mammoth and mastodont lineages, the deinotheres died out in the early Pleistocene, rather than continuing through the ice age.