Prodeinotherium is an early representative of the family Deinotheriidae

Deinotheriidae

Deinotheriidae is a family of prehistoric elephant-like proboscideans that lived during the Tertiary period, first appearing in Africa, then spreading across southern Asia and Europe. During that time they changed very little, apart from growing much larger in size - by the late Miocene they had...

, that lived in Africa, Europe, and Asia in the early and middle Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

. It was the size of a small elephant, about 9 feet at the shoulders, but differed from elephants in possessing a pair of downward curving tusks on the lower jaw. In appearance and many characters it was like Deinotherium

Deinotherium

Deinotherium , also called the Hoe tusker, was a large prehistoric relative of modern-day elephants that appeared in the Middle Miocene and continued until the Early Pleistocene. During that time it changed very little...

(with which it is placed in the subfamily, Deinotheriinae (Sanders et al. 2004), but differed in being of smaller size, having shorter forelimbs, and also in various details in the shape and form of the teeth.

The earliest species to appear is Prodeinotherium hobleyi, known from the Early Miocene of Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 and Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 (about 18 to 20 million years old). A molar of a small prodeinothere from Eritrea

Eritrea

Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

 may also belong to this species and be of the same age.

Prodeinotherium was larger and more specialised than its Oligocene

Oligocene

The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...

 predecessor Chilgatherium

Chilgatherium

Chilgatherium is the earliest and most primitive representative of the family Deinotheriidae. It is known from late Oligocene fossil teeth found in the Ethiopian district of Chilga...

. It flourished for several millions of years, before being suddenly replaced in the middle Miocene by the much larger Deinotherium.