Many fossils were found in our country at different stratigraffic levels across Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene . They are mainly from Proboscidean: Deinotheres, Gomphotherium, Mammuthus, Anancus, Tetralophodon/.
    Molars, jaws, limb bones and tusks are the most abundant fossils. It is rare to find 10-20 bones from one skeleton and it would be big news, if someone excavated a whole skeleton.
    The most complete, fascinating discovery is from Deinoterium thraciensis. This skeleton is one of the very few of the world. Deinotheres were a branch from elephants evolution. They had taken a different direction in the their development from Proboscidea a little before Gomphotheriids and Mammutids. Deinotheres existed in the ancient world from earlier Miocene until the Pleistocene.
    Deinotheres are close to elephants, if we compare the size and the structure of their limbs, but they will be completely different, if we compare their jaws. They lacked superior tusks, but preserved the inferior ones . The nose location tells us that they also had a trunk. Deinotheres didn't have other progressive characteristics except the gigantic size.
    In fact, there is no evidence for their existence until earlier Miocene. Despite the abundance of other Proboscidea mammals in this period, people haven't found any of their ancestors. Some scientists think that we should search for their origin Baritherium, but up to now we haven't got a good proof for the theory. Deinotheres moved to Europe and Asia in the earlier Miocene, but they were never so typical in those areas as were elephants.
    Our skeleton of Deinotherium was excavated in 1965 from Pont sands near a village - Ezerovo /south -east Bulgaria/. After a teeth analysis the comclusion was that the animal is 40-45 years old, it is 7m long, 4.20m tall and died 10 million years ago in the muddy shallows of tropical meander. There are two theories for its daet. Some people think that it mudd-bounded in floodplain area.
    Others think that it had been turned over by a stong wave. A good evidence for the second theory is the bone position.
    The skeleton's rebuilding was made by Prof. Ivan Nicolov and it lasted for seven years. More 70% of the skeleton is real. The femur of its left leg isn't.
   In Assenovgrad, the discoverer's hometown/Mr. Kovatchev/, there is a copy in the Museum of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  Today this fabulous giant is one of the greatest achievements of Bulgarian paleontologists. 

That article was written
with the support of BAS