10 terrible creatures of the past that have become extinct. Fortunately
Miscellaneous / / August 28, 2021
Dog-sized scorpions, huge armored fish, and a skull-splitting giant goose.
1. Arthropleura
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: Lower Carboniferous - Lower Permian, 345-295 million years ago.
- Areal: Scotland, North America.
Let's go right in with the trump cards. Meet the arthropleuraT. Holmes. March Onto Land: The Silurian Period to the Middle Triassic Epoch, the largest invertebrate in the history of planet Earth.
Yes, you read that right: this is a 2.5 meter long centipede with an armored body of 30 articulated segments. The width of the adorable arthropod is at least 50 centimeters. In any case, it was at this distance that the chains of traces that it left were located.
In theory, arthropleura was capable of killing people with insectophobia by its mere presence.
But don't worry too much: she was obviously a herbivorous creature. In its coprolites, fragments of fern-like spores were mainly found. But it is not excluded that the arthropleura could also intercept some small live prey, if it accidentally turned up to it.
2. Deinosuchus
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: Late Cretaceous, 80–73 million years ago.
- Areal: eastern part of North America.
The largest modern crocodiles are seven meters long and weigh up to two tons. If Deinosuchus saw one of theseD. R. Schwimmer. King of the Crocodylians: The Paleobiology of Deinosuchus, then, probably, would take him for his cub. Or, more likely, he just ate it.
Deinosuchus is a crocodile from the Cretaceous period, 12 meters long and weighing under 8.5 tons. Was so harsh that he ate dinosaursif these boobies were careless at the watering hole. In the absence of the latter, he could also eat giant sea turtles and fish - in those days, too, it was much more solid than today's specimens.
Deinosuchus bite force reached 10,483 kilograms per square centimeter.
For comparison: the Tyrannosaurus rex is only 10 times less. It would be something to be upset about, Rex.
3. Pulmonosorpion
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: Carboniferous period, 336–326.4 million years ago.
- Areal: Scotland.
Almost no one in the world loves scorpions. In principle, it is not unreasonableWhat is the global incidence of scorpion envenomation? / Medscape: firstly, they are disgusting, and secondly, they sting about 1.2 million people a year, of which 3,250 die.
If you are one of those few who are crazy about scorpions, then you probably would have liked the Carboniferous period. Imagine: you are walking along the coast of a prehistoric ocean, periodically losing consciousness due to an oversaturated oxygen atmosphere, and scorpions are running under your feetA. J. Jeram. Scorpions from the Viséan of East Kirkton, West Lothian, Scotland, with a revision of the infraorder Mesoscorpionina / Cambridge University Press under 70 centimeters long. About the size of a dog, only flatter.
It is generally not known how poisonous the pulmonary scorpion was. But he had a sting, and obviously for a reason.
In addition to the stinger, claws, and eight long legs, the Pulmonosorpion had two eyes in front and two on either side. Each of them, in turn, consisted of 40–60 lateral ocelli. He used them to look out for other arthropods, amphibians and even the first reptiles, as well as fish.
Yes, fish. We forgot to mention that the pulmon scorpion could swim.
4. Dunkleoste
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: Late Devonian, 358–382 million years ago.
- Areal: North America, Poland, Belgium, Morocco.
If you watched the horror movie "Piranhas" and now look with apprehension at the reservoirs where such creatures can live, we hasten to reassure you. The largest of these are just goldfish compared to Dunkleosteus, a predator from the Late Devonian period. And he, fortunately, died out, so everything is in order.
DunkleosteH. Ferrón, C. Martínez-Pérez, H. Botella. Ecomorphological inferences in early vertebrates: reconstructing Dunkleosteus terrelli (Arthrodira, Placodermi) caudal fin from palaeoecological data / PeerJ was a really tough fish. Moreover, it was armored: it was all covered with strong bone plates, which served as his protection. Most likely, he had to fight off mainly from other dunkleosteae, because the fish was the largest predator of its time - up to 8.79 meters in length and weighing under 4 tons. It is curious that she was viviparous.
In front of the dunkleosteum, sharp and strong teeth protruded, and its jaw muscles developed a bite force of 612 kilograms. The jaws were designed so that the front canines, when opening and closing the mouth, constantly rubbed against other teeth and sharpened.
This fish resembled a warrior in plate armor with a pair of sabers - and meeting such a prehistoric knight under water did not bode well.
5. Meganeva
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: late Carboniferous, about 300 million years ago.
- Areal: Europe.
Well, there’s nothing special to tell. Take the dragonfly. Have taken? Now increase it several tens of times so that the wingspan reaches 70 centimeters. This will be the mega-maneuver.M. Rake. Prehistoric Ancestors of Modern Animals. In the Late Carboniferous, or Carboniferous, these creatures were the main aerial predators and ate other insects.
If "predatory dragonfly" doesn't sound intimidating, remember that the typical mega-neural prey was about the size of a pigeon.
It is unlikely that you would want to dismiss such cuties every time you are going to go to the country.
We have already mentioned the reason why the insects grew to such huge sizes: there was more oxygen then, their tracheas worked more efficiently, so the dragonflies were breathing deeply.
6. Raccorpion
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: from the Ordovician to the Late Permian, 467.3–251.9 million years ago.
- Areal: around the world, most of all in North America and Europe.
If you are not a fan of arthropods and cheliceral cuties, you better not even try to imagine this creature. RaccorpionE. O. Tetlie, D. E. G. Briggs. The origin of pterygotid eurypterids (Chelicerata: Eurypterida) / Palaeontology - This creature is 2.5 meters long, with a powerful chitinous shell and a long tail, at the end of which there was a sting (it is quite possible that it is poisonous).
In front there are several legs for crawling, a pair of huge fins and pincers with which the crustacean pulled into its mouth everything that lies badly on the bottom of the sea.
Despite the name, this is an arthropod and not a cancer, and not a scorpion, although it is related to both. It can also be called eurypterid.
The crustaceans traveled the seas and oceans and ate shellfish, other arthropods, fish, amphibians, reptiles - in general, anyone they could catch. They also ate their own kind with pleasure.
The domination of these monsters in the water lasted for more than 200 million years, until they disappeared along with 90% of the living creatures on the planet during Great Permian extinction. Thank nature for this: now we can swim in the sea without fear of being grabbed by the heels of two-meter hybrids of a scorpion, a crab and a bathyscaphe.
And an interesting factS. J. Braddy, J. A. Dunlop. The functional morphology of mating in the Silurian eurypterid, Baltoeurypterus tetragonophthalmus / Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society: The genitals of the female eurypterids were longer than those of the males. She swam up to the gentleman, thrust her genital appendage into the opening of his reproductive tract under the operculum, collected spermatophores in the form of small hearts and swam away to lay eggs in priming. Very romantic.
7. Tyrannosaurus
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: Maastrichtian age of the Cretaceous period, about 70.6-66.043 million years ago.
- Areal: western part of North America.
No list of prehistoric monsters would be complete without a Tyrannosaurus.G. M. Erickson, P. J. Makovicky, P. J. Currie, M.A. Norell, S. A. C. A. Brochu. Gigantism and comparative life-history parameters of tyrannosaurid dinosaurs / Nature rex - one of the most impressive predators ever to roam the planet. Yes, its small forelegs were not very well suited for push-ups, but the monster made up for this deficiency with powerful jaws. Tyrannosaurus rex bite force reached 6 tons per square centimeter.
For a long time, scientists did not understand why Tyrannosaurus rex had such a massive skull and why the bones in it dense and firmly fused - whereas in other carnivorous dinosaurs they were quite mobile and plastic.
But now paleontology has answeredE. Snively, D. M. Henderson, D. S. Phillips. Fused and vaulted nasals of tyrannosaurid dinosaurs: Implications for cranial strength and feeding mechanics / Acta Palaeontologica Polonica to this question: the strong head of the Tyrannosaurus was necessary because of the incredibly developed muscles of the jaws.
Without strong enough bones, the lizard would have earned a fracture of its physiognomy, simply by playing with its nodules. But his skull has adapted to a truly inhuman load.
This monster roamed the fields, meadows and forests and ate the herbivorous dinosaurs found there, such as hadrosaurs and ceratopsians. Although on occasion he could chew some predator, and did not disdain carrion.
The tyrannosaurus was so severe that it could easily eat anything. Including other tyrannosaurs, if there is nothing tastier nearby.
8. Spinosaurus
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: Late Cretaceous, 99–93.5 million years ago.
- Areal: North Africa, Brazil and Argentina.
Rex was cool, but he wasn't the biggest predator dinosaur in history. This title rightfully belongs to the SpinosaurusJ. Ijouiher. A reconstruction of the palaeoecology and environmental dynamics of the Bahariya Formation of Egypt / PeerJ - reptiles up to 16 meters long and weighing under 7.5 tons.
This creature was impressive in its appearance: its back was decorated with a huge ridge, which served to regulate body temperature, as well as to accumulate fat reserves for the winter. More precisely, on a rainy day - after all, in the late Cretaceous period, although there was already such a phenomenon as the seasonality of the climate, there were no real winters yet. In addition, the comb could be used for mating flirting.
By the way, if a spinosaurus, like many other lizards, had feathers and down, it looked like a duck. Large waterfowl killer duck.
The lizard's muzzle was long (up to 1.5 meters) and narrow, full of sharp teeth, like a crocodile. Therefore, the spinosaurus was not the same hunter as the aforementioned rex. He preferred to sit on the shore and fish peacefully, reading the newspaper... a joke. If necessary, he swam perfectly, using a wide tail as a fin.
If you believe that this lifestyle diminishes the dignity of the spinosaurus as a predator, just keep in mind that he caughtLargest dinosaur predator was a water-loving quadruped / Reuters fish the size of a car. And also prehistoric sharks and crocodiles - and they themselves were serious guys.
And if you accidentally swam past a spinosaurus, he would not bother with the proceedings, you are a shark or not.
9. Megalodon
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: from the early Miocene to the Pliocene, 23–3.6 million years ago.
- Areal: all over the world - in Europe, Africa, America and Australia.
In general, living things grow in water where larger their ground companions, because this environment reduces the load on the bones. Take, for example, the largest modern animal, the blue whale 33 meters long.
He looks like a real giant if you watch him from the side of the ship. But megalodonC. Arnold. Giant Shark: Megalodon, Prehistoric Super Predator would only regard whales as a valuable source of protein. In the era of its dominance in the seas, this huge fish devoured them for breakfast, eating giant turtles, dolphins, sperm whales and killer whales.
For a great white shark, the Megalodon would just laugh in the face. It reached 20.3 meters in length and weighed 40 tons, exceeding it at least 3-4 times.
Megalodon had a truly Hollywood smile: it had 250 sharp teeth, placed in five rows. Bite force - 18.5 tons. And this is three times more than the biting record holder among modern animals - the combed crocodile. Megalodon's teeth were serrated like saws and made it easy to bite off prey just on the go, even if it was still alive and actively resisting.
10. Bronthornis
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons
- Period of existence: Neogene 17-11 million years ago.
- Areal: South America.
If you believe that dinosaurs became extinct and disappeared completely, then you are mistaken. They left heirs - birds. And although the representatives of this class were crushed, they still feel pretty good to this day. By the way, it is easy to see that in some birds the features of dinosaurs can still be traced - compare the ostrich and some troodontida.
But relatively recently, in the Neogene, the earth was trampled by birds that look more like tyrannosaurs - bronthornisG. Dyke, G. Kaiser. Living Dinosaurs: The Evolutionary History of Modern Birds. They trampled on, because a bird weighing under 400 kilograms and 2.8 meters in height could not fly with all the desire. Bronthornis hunted by chasing prey and splitting skulls with their powerful 50 cm long beaks. They were the largest predators of South America and competed quite well with the saber-toothed marsupial tigers.
Interestingly, these monstrous birds belong to anseriformes in their genus.
Anyone who has been to the village will confirm that the angry goose is a real death machine. Now imagine a three-meter goose that can run faster than any ostrich and has a beak strong enough to crush bones - and you will understand why Bronthornis were so dangerous.
Distant cousins of this monster, smaller dromornithidsP. F. Murray, P. Vickers-Rich. Magnificent Mihirungs: The Colossal Flightless Birds of the Australian Dreamtime, lived in Australia in the late Pleistocene, 50–20 thousand years ago, and periodically crossed with primitive people. Fortunately, they seemed to be more of a plant-based diet. And this is good, because a 250 kilogram carnivorous bird is clearly not suitable for the role of a man's friend.
In the columns "area" are indicated the countries where the most fossils of the indicated animals were found. Keep in mind that throughout the history of planet Earth, the location of the continents has been significantly different from the present. Modern names are given for ease of perception.
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