deinothere

English

Alternative forms

A deinothere (Deinotherium giganteum, artist's impression)

• dinothere

Etymology

Wikispecies From scientific Latin Deinotherium, Dinotherium (genus names), from Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós, “fearful, terrible”) + θηρίον (thēríon, “wild beast”).

Noun

deinothere (plural deinotheres)

1. (paleontology) Any of the genus †Deinotherium of large, extinct proboscidean mammals, a relative of modern elephants. [from 19th c.]
   • 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: The First 100 Million Years, Penguin, published 2019, page 105:

     Over the Miocene the European deinotheres became enormous, some reaching weights of 15 tonnes—making them among the largest land mammals ever to have existed.

Synonyms

• deinotherium