''Chilgatherium'' ('Chilga beast' after the locality in which it was found) is the earliest and most primitive representative of the family Deinotheriidae. It is known from late

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

(27- to 28-million-year-old) fossil teeth found in the Ethiopian district of Chilga. So far, only a few molar teeth have been found, but these are distinct enough that this animal can be identified with confidence. The teeth differ from those of '' Prodeinotherium'', ''

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, 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'', 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