Did you like our recent video where we looked at seven astonishing creatures that once roamed
the Earth?
I sure hope so, because you're about to watch the sequel, and this time we've got even crazier
creatures on which to feast your greedy human eyes.
There's a silly looking elephant, swarms of tiny flying raptors, a giant angry rodent,
and a more recently deceased creature which may have been the basis for a mythical beast
we never knew existed.
So let's waste no more time and delve right in to our list of seven more astonishing creatures
that once roamed the Earth
Number 7: Elasmotherium sibiricum
At first glance Elasmotherium sibiricum may not seem all that astonishing.
I mean sure, they were the size of a Mammoth and they had a giant horn on their forehead,
but they're nothing more than a fancy rhinoceros right?
Well I suppose so, but the reason this beast makes our list is because of a recent discovery
regarding what they looked like, and when they might have lived.
Previously we thought that Elasmotherium sibiricum died out around 350,000 years ago, and that
they were somewhat Rhinoceros-like.
But according to a study published in the American Journal of Applied Science only last
year, we've now discovered that this creature existed as recently as 26,000 years ago, and
it actually appeared more like this.
Look familiar?
How about now?
And now.
(Editors note, use alternate unicorn pics if these aren't free)
Okay maybe not that last one, but do you see what I'm getting at?
We now believe that early humans lived alongside Elasmotherium sibiricum during their final
few millennia of existence, and that these creatures were the original source of the
mythical unicorn.
Nicknamed the Siberian Unicorn, these horse-like creatures were 4.5 metres tall and 4,000 kilos
or four and a half tonnes in weight.
So they might not have been mythical, and they sure as well weren't all that magical,
but they could definitely kick your ass.
Number 6: Platybelodon If you've seen the first video we did on astonishing
creatures that once roamed the Earth, then you'll remember that weird shark with the
gigantic furled-up under-bite.
But even though the Helicoprion was sporting a pretty bad case of the Habsburg Jaw, it's
got nothing on our new gargantuan-gobbed best friend - the Platybelodon.
Platybelodon were basically elephants who used Kylie Jenner's lip kit for a million
years longer than recommended, with their huge shovel-like lower jaw used to strip trees
of their bark…and not flesh from your bones as I first imagined.
They lived about 4 million years ago with their remains found in abundance across Eurasia,
and this in turn means we've a good chance of being able to extract viable DNA from their
fossilised bones.
I think you know what I'm getting at here folks.
Who gives a damn about regenerating the Woolly Mammoth when we could have these derpy looking
dorks around instead.
Number 5: The Microraptor As its name suggests, the Microraptor family
were distantly related to the more famous Velociraptor genus, with both creatures having
sprung from the Shanag genus of the Early Cretaceous period.
But in my eyes, what makes the Microraptor even more fearsome is the fact that these
guys could fly.
Initial studies of the Microraptor's bizarre four-winged structure led to the conclusion
that they were only able to glide, much like modern flying squirrels.
However, more recent investigations have indicated that Microraptors were actually capable of
powered flight, with their small 90-centimetre bodies covered in a beautiful plume of luminous-coloured
feathers.
They are thought to be amongst the tiniest non-avian dinosaurs to have ever existed,
but being small and pretty doesn't make them any more appealing to me.
Frankly, if you offered me a choice between facing a swarm of these things or one land-based
raptor, I'd go with plain old Veloco-flavour every day of the week.
Thankfully I don't have to make that choice since they died out 120 million years ago,
but it's always good to think about these things just in case.
Number 4: Jaekelopterus Imagine going for a paddle and stepping on
one of these bad boys.
The Jaekelopterus was a type of sea scorpion that lived 390 million years ago and was bigger
than a human man.
At an estimated length of 2.5 metres this is the largest known arthropod we've ever
discovered, and we've only known about it for ten years after palaeontologists found
one of its mammoth claws back in 2007 in Germany.
Measuring in at 46 centimetres, these claws are all that remain of the Jaekelopterus since
the rest of their bodies were too delicate to survive to the modern day.
But what remains a mystery is why animals like this grew to be so large in the first
place.
I mean there's big, and then there's The Rock big.
We think it might have something to do with increased oxygen levels, or the simple fact
that Jaekelopterus needed to get hench to survive when pitted against other creatures
of the time.
But whatever the reason is, I'm just glad scorpions and spiders no longer sport this
jacked-up look in favour of a more slender appearance today.
Although, let's not be too hasty here, because many people believe that the colossal Jaekelopterus
may still inhabit some of Earth's isolated freshwater systems to this very day.
I really, really hope that's baloney.
Number 3: Josephoartigasia monesi A giant rat you can ride?
Yes please.
Josephoartigasia monesi - which I'll call Jo-Mo for short - was the largest rodent ever
to have existed on Earth, and although I just described it as a giant rat, they actually
looked more like a really big Capybara.
The Jo-Mo were most closely related to modern Pacaranas, but, while today's Pacaranas weigh
15 kilograms and measure about 80 centimetres - which is still in itself pretty big for
a rodent - Jo-Mo may have weighed as much as 2,586 kilograms, which is two and a half
tons!
Imagine Honey Boo Boo's family coming home from Walmart in an SUV loaded with groceries,
and then you're almost there.
These tremendously immense rodents were three metres in length and kicked around just 2
to 4 million years ago during the Pliocene to the early Pleistocene periods.
Their bite has been estimated as being as powerful as that of a modern-day tiger, and
so fearsome were Jo-Mo's large front teeth that it was entirely capable of defending
itself against attacks from saber-toothed cats, large carnivorous marsupials and those
giant terror birds we mentioned in our last video.
Wow.
I think I'd fancy my chances against a greased-up Mama June over this thing.
Number 2: Chalicotherium Chalicotherium was a bizarre creature that
existed in Europe, Asia and Africa between 28.4 and 3.6 million years ago.
Based on what evidence we've found so far, this odd-looking ungulate resembled some kind
of horse sloth hybrid, with its gigantic front limbs only used occasionally for support and
balance; meaning this thing could stand up on its back legs at a height of over three
metres tall if it wanted to.
The Chalicotherum also possessed a set of deadly sharp claws at the end of each limb,
but its horse-like head betrays the fact that this beast was actually a herbivore.
In fact, we believe that the Chalicotherum spent most of its time sat down squatting
and stuffing itself full with leaves, making it very much the Gwyneth Paltrow of its time.
Number 1: Titanosaur Argentinosaurus Huinculensis No list of the planet's most astonishing creatures
would be complete without naming its largest ever inhabitant - The Titanosaur Argentinosaurus
Huinculensis - Or Tito Argento to his friends.
There have been many historical claims to the crown of Earth's biggest ever beast, with
many of them based on educated estimates in lieu of actual dinosaur remains.
But Tito Argento's claim is the most legitimate due to the fact that we have actually found
most of its skeleton, and using a variety of reliable methods we've calculated that
the largest of their kind was forty metres long and weighed at least 70,000 kilograms
or 70 metric tonnes, with the highest estimates pegging it at 90,000 kilograms, or 90 metric
tonnes.
Even if we go with a lowball figure, that's still eleven times heavier than a T-Rex, one-hundred
times heavier than a cow, one-thousand five-hundred times heavier than a toilet, one-hundred-thousand
times heavier than a basketball, twenty billion times the weight of a sesame seed and one
trillion times as heavy as a single grain of salt.
Or, to put it in simpler terms, Tito Argento weighed the same as the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Yeah I should've gone with that one shouldn't I?
Despite their incredible size meaning they could pretty much eat whatever or whoever
the heck they wanted, Tito Argento was strictly vegetarian, and were the dominant herbivores
of their time before dying out 66 million years ago in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction
event.
But despite their size these beasts sure did some sight-seeing during their time on our
planet, as after the discovery of a Tito Argento skeleton in Antarctica in December 2011, their
remains have now been found on every continent on Earth.
And that's our list.
But did you catch our first video on this subject?
If not, you don't need to move a single muscle in your fragile human body,
because it's coming right up for you now.