Even though they are currently extinct, a long time ago these verifying creatures roamed
the Earth.
Today we present you with 13 of the marriage prehistoric animals.
Today's video was done in collaboration with Down the Rabbithole.
More on that later.
Number 13 Megatherium It’s fairly hard to imagine the present
day sloth, with its slow and lazy demeanor, as a mean aging creature.
However, its Pleistocene ancestor, the Megatherium, didn’t look so farm less.
In addition to being roughly the same size as a modern day elephant, it had large and
lower full claws and scientific evidence suggests that it was even capable of bipedal locomotion.
Also known as ‘The Giant Ground Sloth’ this creature is one of the largest land mammals
known to man, weighing up to 4 tons and measuring more than 20 feet from head to tail.
The sloth would rise on its strong hind legs and use its muscular tail to form a tripod
that supported its weight as it pulled down tree branches to eat the leaves.
The common consensus is that the sloth was exclusively an herbivore but there have been
several scientific claims that it might have been carnivorous as well.
If this is true, it would mean that it could have taken over the skills of Smilodon, also
known as the saber-toothed tiger.
Megatherium inhabited the grassland and woodland environments of present day South America,
as recently as 10,000 years ago.
The appearance of human blunt as in the area has been cited as a possible reason behind
its instinct.
Number 12 Azhdarchid Once believed to be a species of winged dinosaur,
this prehistoric animal was in fact closer related to the gigantic marine lobsters that
lived around the same time, during the Cretaceous Period.
The Azhdarchid was a species of large flying reptiles known as Pterosaurs.
Its name is derived from the Persian word for ‘dragon’, a fitting comparison, considering
the fact that these creatures were as tall as giraffes with wingspans that exceeded 50
feet and weights of over 500 pounds.
Azhdarchids had very long necks, huge elongated heads, spear-like jaws and toothless beaks
which enabled them to eat larger animals than other Pterosaurs.
There’s been a debate in the scientific community on how Azhdarchid’s would feed
and whether their massive size could still allow them to fly.
The common conclusion is that these animals could soar across great distances and feed
by blunt thing the smaller creatures on the ground, but mostly lead a terrestrial existence.
Number 11 Therizinosaurus The feature that makes the Therizinosaurus
so fairy is not its massive size of 33 feet in length and up to five tons in weight but
the enormous claws on each of the three digits on its front limbs.
They are believed to have reached 3.3 feet in length, making them the largest claws of
any known animal.
The Therizinosaurus is believed to have been bipedal, with a broad body and an elongated
neck.
Despite the lightening appearance given by its distinctive claws, most scientific evidence
suggests that the Therizinosaurus was probably an herbivore.
Number 10 Daeodon With a massive full that could grow up to
3 feet in length, strong neck muscles and a large bulky body, the Daeodon was the last
and largest of the entelodonts, an instinct family of pig-like omnivores often referred
to as ‘fell pigs’ or ‘terminator pigs’.
These creatures roamed the Earth approximately 37 million years ago and stood as high as
6.5 feet at the shoulder with slender hooved legs that were built for speed.
They had full sets of teeth which included lower full molars, heavy incisors and large
canines.
Similar to other entelodonts, Daeodons had bony lumps on each side of their heads, a
possible attachment point for strong jaw muscles.
Even the etymology of its name makes the Daeodon a lightening creature, as the word is derived
from the Greek ‘daios’ meaning ‘bread full’ and ‘odon’ meaning teeth.
Number 9 Meganeura An ancestor of the modern-day dragonfly, the
Meganeura is one of the largest known flying insects.
It had a body length of approximately one foot and a wingspan that measured around 26
inches.
It is believed that the Meganeura was carnivorous and laborery, feeding on other insects, amphibians
and small invertebrates.
One possible explanation for the insect’s gigantic proportions is found within the correlation
between gigantism and the availability of oxygen.
Simply put, the atmosphere contained more oxygen at the time, which allowed insects
and other creatures to grow larger.
Number 8 Jaekelopterus This verifying creature was the top laborer
of the waters it inhabited.
The Jaekelopterus is currently the largest arthropod ever discovered with a total length
that exceeded eight feet, making it larger than a fully grown human.
Also known as ‘the giant sea scorpion’ this alien-looking creature had a segmented
body with multiple specialized limbs, some of which featured spikes.
When it extended the chelicerae from its claw-like mouth the Jaekelopterus added 3.3 feet to
its overall length.
It lived around 390 million years ago and, despite its nickname, it’s believed that
the Jaekelopterus preferred freshwater rivers or lakes and most likely never ventured into
the ocean.
Number 7 Dunkleosteus Today our oceans are home to many fairy creatures,
but around 360 million years ago, when the Dunkleosteus swam their waters, the situation
was much different.
As a hypercarnivorous apex laborer this creature reigned supreme without facing threats from
other animals.
One component that added to the sea some reputation of the Dunkleosteus was its sheer size.
The Dunkleosteus terrelli, the largest of the species, measured up to 30 feet in length
and weighed over a tone.
It was a slow but lower full swimmer with a heavily farmer exterior.
Instead of teeth, it possessed a two pairs of sharp bony plates that formed a structure
resembling a beak.
The Dunklosteus could open and close its mouth on its prey in roughly 50 milliseconds and
generate high bite Forbes that enabled them to bite through arm formed prey.
Number 6 Megalania Even though Komodo dragons are currently the
biggest lizards on the planet, they still pale in comparison to their prehistoric ancestor,
the Megalania, considered the largest terrestrial lizards ever discovered.
Also known as ‘The Giant Ripper Lizard’ this beast inhabited southern Australia during
the Pleistocene.
The youngest fossils have been dated to around 50,000 years ago, which would mean that the
first aboriginal settlers might have encountered giant ripper lizards.
If this is true, they would have stood in front of a monster measuring over 23 feet
from head to tail and weighing up to 1,500 pounds.
It is suspected that these giant lizards belonged to the Toxicofera clade, meaning that they
possessed oral glands capable of secreting fox sense.
This would make the Megalania the largest enormous vertebrate in known existence.
Number 5 Gigantopithecus Yeti, Sasquatch and other mythical ape-like
creatures would most likely pale in comparison to the Gigantopithecus.
This genus of ape is believed to have existed as recently as one hundred thousand years
ago in the area that is now India, China and Vietnam.
It same geographical location and the same time frame as several hominin species.
The orangutan is the closest living relative of this creature with several significant
differences, particularly when it comes to size.
Adult male Gigantopithecus blacki were enormous creatures, especially when compared to humans.
They were almost ten feet tall and weighed well-over 1,300 pounds with an armspan that
exceeded 11.8 feet.
Gigantophitecus blacki were four times heavier than present day gorillas.
When considering that the gorilla is several times stronger than a human being, one can
only imagine the strength of this prehistoric ape.
Its imposing size meant that a fully grown adult specimen had almost no natural enemies.
Gigantopithecus extinction is believed to have been caused by climate change which turned
the plants within its environment from forest to savannah, and the ape didn’t adapt to
the new food sources.
Number 4 Livyatan melvillei Its name was inspired by a biblical foster
and by Herman Melville, the author of ‘Moby Dick’, a novel about a giant whale.
When considering the etymology of its name, it’s not hard to imagine what Livyatan melvillei
might have looked like.
It was similar in size to a modern day sperm whale, measuring up to a staggering 57 feet
in length, with an average skull size of 9.8 feet.
Livyatan melvillei had massive, robust jaws, which unlike those of sperm whales, where
equipped with sets of functioning teeth.
This creature’s teeth are actually among the largest ever discovered, measuring over
14inches in length.
Along with the Megaladon, a species of giant shark similar to a present-day white shark,
Livyatan melvillei was the apex laborer of its time.
Number 3 Liopleurodon An apex laborer of the Middle to Late Jurassic
Period this marine reptile could effectively fill almost any creature it came across.
It weighed as much as 3,700 pounds and measured up to 23 feet.
Despite their enormous proportions, these creatures were powerful swimmers, using a
four-flipper propulsion mode typical of the Plesiosauria order that they belonged to.
Their swimming system gave them excellent acceleration, which they would use to ambush
various prey.
Their mass and swimming prowess were not the only characteristics that made Liopleurodons
such formidable laborers as they also had numerous razor-sharp teeth and considerable
bite strength delivered from jaws that measured up to 10 feet.
It is also believed that they had good eyesight and that they would use their nostrils to
scan the water in order to determine the source of certain smells.
Number 2 Sarcosuchus Because of its long body and scaly appearance
the Sarcosuchus bore a resemblance to the modern day crocodile.
Nicknamed SuperCroc, this animal was not actually a crocodile but had many of the same terrifying
features.
These included muscular tails, powerful jaws and muscles, sharp teeth and farmer-like plates,
known as osteoderms that covered the creature’s body from head to tail.
The largest Sarcosuchus specimens were about twice the size of a saltwater crocodile and
are believed to have weighed up to ten tons.
The skull of a Sarcosuchus imperator, the largest member of the species, was determined
to have measured 5 feet in length.
Unlike present-day crocodiles, these reptiles kept growing at a constant rate throughout
their lifetime meaning that they could reach gigantic proportions becoming a worthy rival
for any laborer of the early Cretaceous Period.
Number 1 Arthropleura Many people are terrified of insects and bugs
especially of those larger in size.
However, none of the creepy-crawlers that are around today can compare to the creatures
that lived around 300 million years ago that belonged to that Arthropleura genus.
They are the largest known land invertebrates ever discovered.
These gigantic millipedes could reach sizes of up to 8 feet in length and were possibly
the apex laborers of their environment in the late Carboniferous Period.