Earth has been around for 4.6 billion years. In this long history, there have been countless kinds of creatures on the earth, some of which have evolved and still exist with us, while others have become extinct and disappeared in history for unknown reasons.
We have probably restored their appearance through accidental excavations of fossils, and some of them are incredibly large, so let's take a look at them.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > room corner stone</h1>
Corner stone
Fangjiaoshi lived with 470 million years ago, and his appearance is very similar to that of a squid, so many people think that it is a close relative of the squid, but in fact, it is not, Fangjiaoshi belongs to the cephalopod, nautilus subclass, so he is actually a close relative of the nautilus.
From the fossil remains of the Hornstone found now, it is speculated that its body length can reach 9 meters, which is considered to be the largest creature at that time and the largest known mollusk. It inhabits the deep sea, its body is wrapped in an extremely long shell, and its head has several large, sharp antennae used to pierce the hard shell of food. It is speculated that he fed on broad-winged horseshoe crabs or trilobites.
Fangjiaoshi became extinct about 450 million years ago, the specific cause of extinction is unknown, and it is speculated that it disappeared after the first mass extinction.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Brondu Scorpion</h1>
The Brondu scorpion, also known as the thunder scorpion, lived 400 million years ago, and its appearance is basically the same as that of our current scorpion. Only one fossil of its broken leg has been found, about 10 cm long, so it was initially speculated that the Brondu scorpion was about 1 meter long. However, he was later found on other fossils of living creatures, and according to these traces, it was judged that its length was likely to reach 3 meters
Thunder Scorpion
Unlike modern scorpions, the main habitat of the thunder scorpion is water rather than land. He was huge and could move quickly with buoyancy in the water, but he was not as fast on the ground as he could prey. It is speculated that it feeds on some small marine animals (e.g., fish, trilobites)
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > dinosaur</h1>
The dinosaur also lived on Earth 400 million years ago, and it belongs to the order of shield fish and arthropods. The appearance of the fish is very peculiar, the head is covered with a hard "armor", it has no spine, but the body length can reach 11 meters, the weight can reach 1 ton, is the largest fish at that time, and now the largest fish is the whale shark, the body length can reach 20 meters.
Fear of fish
But the fish is a little better than the whale shark, and its bite force is very frightening, up to 750 kg (one adult has only 80 kg of bite force). Not only that, but the fish also has a super suction power, which can suck food into the mouth in only 0.06 seconds. At the time, fish were the top animals of the food chain. It is almost impossible to survive being preyed upon by it.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > crocodile</h1>
Crocodiles lived about 100 million years ago and are mainly distributed in North America and Europe. Its appearance was similar to that of today's crocodiles, but it was very large. It can reach a length of 16 meters and weighs more than 15 tons.
Crocodile length comparison
He mainly preyed on dinosaurs and large turtles. Dinosaurs go to the water's edge to drink water, and it will rush out of the water to prey on dinosaurs. And he is very fast in the water and on land, and is a real "killer".
Crocodiles prey on dinosaurs
The bite force of the crocodile is very frightening, up to 8 tons, and it is the most known bite force on land, and it can easily bite the shell of a turtle. At present, the largest bite force on land is the "bay crocodile", which can reach a length of 6 meters and a bite force of 2 tons, which is still a little worse than its ancestors.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > ancient giant tortoise</h1>
Fossils of ancient giant tortoises
The ancient giant tortoise was the largest turtle that lived 70 million years ago. It can reach a body length of up to 4 meters, an arm span of up to 5 meters, and weighs more than 2.2 tons. But the animal is not fierce, and often becomes a sac for crocodiles and dinosaurs.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Aeolian pterosaur</h1>
68 million years ago, the largest flying animal on Earth appeared, the Aeolian Pterodactyl. It has wingspans of up to 12 meters and has an extremely long neck and beak. It stood at a height similar to that of today's giraffes.
Aeolian Pterodactyl
Aeolian pterosaurs had few natural predators and fed on small dinosaurs or mammals. Like Tyrannosaurus rex, it was at the top of the food chain at the time, and could even compete with T.rex.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Titan Python</h1>
Titan Pythons lived with 60 million years ago and are the largest known python. In 2009, 28 fossil pythons were found in the Colombian coal mine, the longest one reaching 15 meters and the diameter reaching 1 meter. Although the largest snake now, the "reticulated python", can also grow up to 9.9 meters, but its diameter may only be more than 10 centimeters, which is not comparable to the Titan Python.
Titan Python
Titan pythons mainly prey on crocodiles, it is not toxic, the method of predation is to strangle the prey alive and swallow it alive. The exact time of its extinction is uncertain. In recent years, there have been frequent reports of the found of Titan python corpses somewhere, but in the end they have all been confirmed to be false news.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Ann's middle beast</h1>
The Ann's beast is a very interesting animal that lived 48 million years ago. It has a wolf head, but it has 4 herbivores legs. Despite his fierce appearance, he is an uncompromising omnivore. Usually eat grass, occasionally eat some meat to enjoy.
Ahn's Middle Beast
We don't know much about the annum, only 2 fossils have been found, one of which is 80 centimeters long, and its body length can reach 4 meters by the skull. Regarding its subjects, the mainstream view is that it is a close relative of wolves or sheep, but recently there have been some new views that it may be a close relative of hippos or whales.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > ancient giant pig</h1>
Ancient giant pig
The ancient giant pig lived 30 million years ago and is the largest known pig, with a presumed length of up to 3 meters and a weight of 2 tons. It is mainly distributed in Europe and Asia. Unlike today's pigs, it has two huge bulges at its cheekbones. It is an omnivorous animal, very fierce, and from the current fossil discovery, there is a phenomenon of cannibalism in ancient giant pigs.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Mulberry pseudolodon</h1>
The largest bird on Earth, the Pseudomonitorant Ofsan, appeared 25 million years ago, with wingspans of up to 7.5 meters (the longest bird with the longest wingspan today is the albatross, about 2.5 meters).
Mulberry pseudolodon
Its fossils were found during the construction of Carolina Airport, which was originally a sea, so it is suspected that the Sands pseudodonted bird belongs to the seabird, and its beak has "teeth", but this tooth is not used to chew, but to prevent prey from slipping off the mouth, so it is called "pseudo-teeth".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > short-faced bear</h1>
Short-faced bear
The short-faced bear lived 18 million years ago and is the largest bear in the world, with a similar appearance to a brown bear, a short face and long forelimbs. Mainly found in North and South America, the brachycephalic bear is about the same height as a human when walking on four legs, but can reach a height of 4.9 meters when standing on two legs. Short-faced bears weigh an average of up to 1 tonne and became extinct about 10,000 years ago.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > saber-toothed tiger</h1>
Saber-toothed tigers lived 3 million years ago and became extinct about 10,000 years ago. It is much larger than the current tigers, the average weight of the tiger is about 300 kilograms, but the saber-toothed tiger can grow to 500 kilograms, about 3 meters long, is the largest cat.
Saber-toothed tiger
The most obvious feature of the saber-toothed tiger is that it has two particularly long canine teeth, which can reach a total length of 36 cm. Half of the canine teeth are grown in the face, the exposed part is about 20 cm, and the main role is to cut off the trachea of the prey when hunting. Mammoths and short-faced bears are prey for saber-toothed tigers.
Humans have found a lot of saber-toothed tiger fossils, and even collected DNA, so it is not difficult to make the saber-toothed tiger reappear in the world.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Haster Eagle</h1>
The Haast Hawk appeared 1.8 million years ago and is the largest eagle in the world. With wingspans of up to 3 metres and a weight of up to 15 kilograms (15 kilograms is particularly large among birds), the Haast eagle inhabits the jungles of New Zealand and preys on moa. It is worth mentioning that the average weight of moa is about 400 kilograms, and the Haast eagle hunts animals that are dozens of times heavier than itself, which shows how fierce it is.
Haast Hawk
The Haast Eagle went extinct not so long ago, probably 500 years ago. This eagle is also mentioned in Maori literature and totems that arrived in New Zealand long ago
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > ancient monitor lizard</h1>
Ancient monitor lizards
Ancient monitor lizards lived in Australia 1.5 million years ago and became extinct 40,000 years ago. We haven't found a complete skeleton at the moment, so we know less about this lizard. But by the proportion of the skulls found and the current lizards, the ancient monitor lizard was a 9-meter-long behemoth that weighed up to 2 tons.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > giant ape</h1>
The great ape lived probably 1 million years ago and is the largest ape and the largest primate, reaching up to 3 meters tall and weighing up to 550 kilograms. It is mainly distributed in China and India, and is presumed to have become extinct about 300,000 years ago.
Giant apes
Interestingly, the earliest fossils of great apes were found in prescriptions in Hong Kong. At that time, Chinese medicine was using the fossils of giant apes as "dragon bones" in medicine. (The keel is not really a "keel", which Is called a keel when Chinese medicine medicates mammal fossils), and most of the fossils of giant apes found so far are jaw bones.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > megalodon</h1> shark
The megalodon first appeared 23 million years ago, is the largest known shark on Earth, and looks very similar to the great white shark. It can reach a length of up to 20 meters and weigh up to 100 tons. It is larger than a whale and preys on whales, because small fish simply cannot satisfy its appetite.
Megalodon
Megalodon has more than 100 teeth in its mouth that are 20 cm long. It is estimated that its bite force can reach 36 tons, which is the largest bite force among known organisms, and can easily crush a truck or even a house.
The scariest thing is that we don't know if megalodons are extinct. Many biologists believe that the megalodon is not extinct because we are constantly discovering new fossils of it, the latest of which is only 10,000 years old. It was also found that some of the sea creatures that were nibbled had very large tooth marks on their bodies, which were not possible for current creatures. Biologists suspect that the megalodon still lives in the deep sea, and many movies are now based on it