Miocene

The primordial Rhine flowed through a wide valley. The water flowed slowly in several channels interspersed with sandbanks and small islands. The plant life was similar to our flora today. The animal world, on the other hand, was exotic and strange. Rhinoceroses, tapirs, and forest antelopes, among others, lived along the riverbanks. The Deinotherium giganteum, a tusked elephant, was particularly impressive. Its name means "giant terror beast." The global climate was warmer than today, but a cooling process was underway. At the end of the Miocene epoch, temperatures were roughly the same as they are today.

One of the most impressive animals of its time was Deinotherium giganteum. Due to the shape of their backward-curving tusks in the
lower jaw, these animals are also known as tusked elephants. They are only distantly related to today's elephants. Muscle attachment points on the skull show that tusked elephants had a trunk. However, there
is some debate about how long it was. The only thing that is certain is that the animals had to reach the ground with the tip of their trunk in order to drink. It is unclear what the
characteristic tusks were used for. Deinotheria originated in Africa. From there, they migrated
to Asia and Europe. Over time, larger and larger species developed. The increase in size allowed the animals to reach the leaves on high
branches. And as prey, adult tusked elephants were too big even for the top predators. The last European species died out about 3.5 million years ago. The reason for this may have been climate change. Global cooling caused the spread of steppes and greater seasonal fluctuations. This may have meant that the large amounts of food they needed were no longer available all year round.

The example of the tusked elephant shows that science is an ongoing process. When the previously unknown animal was first described in 1828, only individual teeth and jaw fragments were available. They were mistakenly combined in such a way that the tusks pointed upwards. It was only with the discovery of an intact lower jaw that this error was corrected. Due to the scarcity of fossil finds, it was only possible to speculate about the animal's physique.

Agnotheres were large predators that lived in Europe and Africa around 10-11 million years ago. They were highly specialized carnivores and were among the top hunters on the ancient Rhine. Adult animals reached a body weight of at least 270 kg. Their physique resembled that of today's bears, but they were longer-legged and ran on their toes like dogs instead of on the soles of their feet. Their heads resembled those of dogs. Terror of the riparian forest Among the bear dogs, Agnotherium was a particularly fast and agile runner, but probably not particularly enduring. It was probably a lurking hunter that attacked its prey from ambush.

Hunting companions
Bear dogs shared their habitat with the slightly smaller and slimmer saber-toothed cats. The saber-toothed cat Machairodus aphanistus reached the size of today's lions and had long upper canines that were flattened on the sides. Whether these agile animals used their teeth to sever the throat and aorta of their prey with a targeted bite, or whether they used them to slash the tough skin of their prey, remains a matter of speculation. There were also all kinds of other carnivores, such as martens, otters, cat bears, hyenas, and bears. However, the fossils of small, inconspicuous hunters are particularly valuable. These include insectivores such as shrews and moles. Evidence of their tiny, very fragile bones is an absolute rarity.