Deinotheriidae is a family of prehistoric elephant-like proboscideans that lived during the Cenozoic era. They first appeared in Africa during the Oligocene then spread across Europe and the lower latitudes of Asia during the Miocene epoch. Their most distinctive features were their lack of upper tusks and downward-curving tusks on the lower jaw.
Deinotheres were not very diverse; the only three known genera are Chilgatherium, Prodeinotherium, and Deinotherium. These form an evolutionary succession, with each new genus replacing the preceding one. Deinotheres were relatively conservative and showed little morphological change over their evolution, aside from a progressive increase in body size. Some species of Deinotherium are among the largest known land mammals ever, considerably exceeding modern elephants in size. The last members of Deinotherium persisted until the end of the Early Pleistocene in Africa, around 1 million years ago.
They are named for Deinotherium, from the Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós), meaning "terrible", and θηρίον (thērión), meaning "beast".