This is a BEAUTIFUL, SUPER RARE Fossil Molar from Prodeinotherium bavaricum, a Deinothere from the Miocene of the Bugojno Basin of Gračanica, Bosnia! The piece measures 2.91 Inches (7.4 cm) long, 2.48 Inches (6.3 cm) thick, 2.15 Inches (5.46 cm) tall, and weighs 8.2 ounces with great humps, a large partial root, and no repair or restoration!
Deinotheres are relatives of elephants that first appeared 28 million years ago and went extinct 1 million years ago. These bizarre animals looked mostly like elephants but with several major differences in their outward appearance. Not only were their trunks much shorter but unlike modern elephants, which have 2 long tusks that came out of their upper jaw, Deinotheres had 2 relatively short tusks that came out of their chin. The chin also jutted out of the Jaw and pointed straight down. One other big difference that wasn't externally visible was their teeth. Elephants, and most of their relatives like Mastodons and Gomphotheres, usually have one large tooth on each lobe of their jaw at a time. this is why you get Mammoth and Mastodon teeth as big as an American Football. Deinotheres, however, had 4 or 5 teeth per jaw lobe like most other mammals. Because of this, they had among the smallest molars of all elephants and close relatives despite being a similar size. The largest Deinotheres could grow to 13 feet tall at the shoulder and over 14 tons!
Prodeinotherium bavaricum was a medium sized Deinothere that grew to over 9 feet at the shoulder and weighed over 4 tons. They were plant eating browsers that fed on soft vegetation like the leaves of flowering plant. They lived in closed forests (forests where the canopy blocks most of the light) all over Europe before going extinct about 15 million years ago when it was succeeded by it's descendant, Deinotherium.
Deinothere fossils are substantially rarer that their counterparts Mammoths and Mastodons. A great opportunity to own a top quality piece of a rare and bizarre Ice Age mammal!
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Species: Prodeinotherium bavaricum
Size: 2.91 Inches (7.4 cm) long, 2.48 Inches (6.3 cm) thick, 2.15 Inches (5.46 cm) tall, and weighs 8.2 ounces
Found: Bugojno Basin of Gračanica, Bosnia
Age: Early Miocene ~15.5 million years
Repair: none