Before the birth of human beings, many creatures appeared on the earth. But with the passage of time, most species have been eliminated. They are huge and terrifying in appearance, which is unimaginable to us humans today. The following small series will take stock of the top ten most terrifying prehistoric giant creatures for you.
One, the birds
Also known as the terror bird, is a large carnivore, living between 27 million and 1.5 million years ago, its body height of 3 meters and can fly, they are savage and fierce, dominating the food chain in South America for about 60 million years, the terror bird is amazingly fast, like a pickaxe's mouth is strong enough to cut the spinal cord of a horse under a single blow. The closest of their cronies today is the crane family.
The ferocious and bloodthirsty overlord of the Americas, the Bird of Terror
The dinosaur's leg bones are hard and muscular, and they can completely crush the bones of medium-sized prey, and then slowly suck the nutrient-rich bone marrow in the bones of the prey. The running speed is quite fast, according to scientists' estimates, the horror bird can run up to 97 kilometers per hour.
Features: Short wings and no ability to fly, but muscular legs
Two major reasons for the extinction of the birds: 1, the birds breed offspring are spawning and hatching, and the eggs on the ground have great temptation for predators such as wolves; moreover, the birds are hunted alone, and the wolves living in the group can subdue the birds together 2, the ancestors of the birds are suspected to be Tyrannosaurus rex, so they inherited part of the genes of the dinosaurs, that is, they are sensitive to climate and have poor adaptability, after climate change, food shortages, changes in the living environment, and the birds failed to adapt in time, so they perished.
Two, titan pythons
An ancient python, a prehistoric apex predator and the king of the jungle on Earth, titan pythons can reach an average length of 15 meters and weigh more than 1 ton, which is enough to explain their terrible point. Their diet consists of a 4.57-meter-long, 500-pound blunt-nosed crocodile and a 3.05-meter lungfish, as well as some large contemporary turtles. Titan pythons became extinct nearly 58 million years ago.
King of the Jungle - Titan Python
Although the Titan python is very large, but a variable temperature animal, at least to survive in the minimum temperature from 30 ° C to 34 ° C, the environmental requirements can be said to be very harsh, and the temperature in ancient times is not stable, resulting in problems in the breeding period of the Titan python, and they are gradually extinct.
Titan pythons have led to extinction due to changes in temperature
Three, Neptune Dragon
Also known as Osaurus and Dragon, it was the deadliest hunter in the ocean in prehistoric times, a huge carnivore. It belongs to the genus " Anderson " , indirectly related to modern monitor lizards. Neptune's limbs were paddle-shaped flippers, a large head, a long, pointed mouth, a mouth full of sharp teeth, a very short neck, a slender body, a body length of about 15-17 meters, and a weight of about 10 tons. In particular, they have a long paddle-shaped tail that accounts for about one-half of the body length, and is a powerful propeller for fast swimming.
The overlord of the seas in prehistoric times, the Neptune Dragon
Neptunosaurus lived in the oceans of the late Cretaceous period, feeding on sea turtles and long-necked plesiosaurs. It is accustomed to ambushing prey, and once it finds it, it chases after it until it bites, and when it is successful, it tears it apart with its sharp tapered teeth. Because of their extremely fast swimming speed, even the carnivorous fish that are very good at swimming cannot escape the fate of predation.
Neptune Dragon, the deadly predator of the seas
Neptunosaurus became extinct in the Fifth Mass Extinction (Cretaceous Mass Extinction).
Four, the Prussian crocodile
Living in the Late Miocene period 8 million years ago, the largest individual can reach 10 meters in length, weighs up to 4.7 tons, has a body width of nearly 1.8 meters, and has a skull length of more than 1340 mm, which is larger than the mesozoic crocodile. At that time, they had no natural enemies at all, and their food was all the mammals and fish they could prey on.
There was no predator of prehistoric crocodiles, the Prussian crocodile
The Prus crocodile is huge, with a head length of 1.5 meters and a width of more than 1 meter. The Prus crocodile's skull and mandible are very thick, its mouth has thick and long sharp teeth, and its large mouth, when opened, is like a gate to hell, devouring all life that dares to approach.
Specimen of the Prussian crocodile
In the long history of crocodiles, it has dominated more than one area, they swim on land and in the water, preying on as much as they want. However, the Biggest rival to the Prussian crocodile was the same race, and the brutal competition pushed them to grow larger and larger, but the large size only brought short-term success and led to their demise.
Five, Ancient Malu
Also known as millipedes, scale worms, herbivorous and scavengers, feed mainly on decaying animals and plants. Living in the Carboniferous period 300 million years ago, because the oxygen content at that time was 35%, the arthropods at that time were very large, can grow to 2.3 meters, and are the largest invertebrates known. Equivalent to a giant "centipede", the surface is covered with protective armor, the body is extremely thin, close to the ground. GuMalu had almost no vision, but his sense of smell and touch was unusually sensitive. Paleontologist Snyder deduced from the fossils that it lived in salt swamps at the junction of rivers and seas, perhaps feeding on amphibians and invertebrates.
The largest invertebrate in ancient times, the ancient horse land
There are not many natural enemies of the giant horse land, because they are covered with armor and are difficult to kill. The giant Malu's body is translucent and afraid of sunlight, so it lives in dark crevices. Giant Malu also has smaller and denser body hair on its skin, which can secrete filamentous substances to stick itself to the rock. Although it looks numb, in fact, the giant Malu is a docile bug that does not hurt people, which is completely different from the giant anaconda that specializes in eating people.
It doesn't hurt people, it's a docile bug
The extinction of the ancient horse land may be related to the rise of reptile species and the drying of habitats.
Six, Dunn's fish
It was the earliest known large predator on Earth, living in the Devonian Period, about 360 million to 430 million years ago. Although it does not have teeth, but the unique jaw helps it prey on animals larger than itself, including primitive sharks, his jaw is unique in that it can open at a speed of one-fiftieth of a second to quickly suck prey into its mouth, and its bite force can reach five thousand kilograms, which is known as the most massive prehistoric prehistoric creature.
The creature with the greatest bite force in prehistory is the Dunn's fish
The appearance of The Dunn's fish gives people an unusually fierce feeling. The strong spindle-shaped body of a shark is closer to the body shape of a modern fish. The head and neck are covered with thick and hard exoskeletons. Although it is a carnivorous fish, it has no teeth, and instead of teeth, the head nails located in the snout are very sharp, like a knife. Can cut, bite, crush anything.
Dunn's fish can cut off sharks with one bite
More than 300 million years ago, the Devonian period was the dominant planet for fish, and the first sharks appeared during this period, but their condition was very worrying, because in that era they would be very happy to be lucky enough to save their lives. The most terrifying animal among the many water monsters is a giant fish with a bulldozer-like shape, the Dunn's fish, which has a hard "armor" on its head that can crush its prey in an instant.
However, its large body and size greatly affected the speed and sensitivity of the Dunn's fish, which made it gradually lose out to tiny sharks and other carnivorous fish over the course of evolution; This, coupled with the environmental changes on Earth at the end of the Devonian period, eventually left the stage of biological reproduction and evolution.
Seven, spinosaurus
Once the largest terrestrial carnivore on Earth, it lived in North Africa during the middle Cretaceous Period, and was described as a collection of Tyrannosaurus rex, crocodiles and whales that ruled the oceans and land, and was the first dinosaur to adapt to the aquatic environment and hunt sharks and ancient crocodiles. And use its sharp, sword-like curved claws to tear up prey.
Amphibious dinosaurs - spinosaurs
Spinosaurus is famous for its unique sail-like shape and huge size. For the function of this sail, the function is likely to include regulating body temperature, storing fat energy, dissipating heat, attracting the opposite sex, threatening opponents, attracting prey, etc.
The only carnivorous dinosaur that could swim
The skull of Spinosaurus is 1.75 meters long and resembles an upperosaur , and Spinosaurus is considered a semi-aquatic animal. An oxygen isotope composition study of the teeth of the Acanthosaurus family showed that Athosaurus was the only carnivorous dinosaur known to have been able to swim.
As for its extinction, it is the same as most dinosaurs.
Eight, Melville Whale
Also known as the Leviathan whale, it is the largest species of Leviathan whale found in South America and lived 13 million years ago.
The largest species of Leviathan whales, the Leviathan whale of the Mewright
Leviathan whale species names are named after herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick and a famous American writer. Leviathan whales are large carnivorous whales that lived during the same period as the megalodon, the largest known carnivorous fish, and are estimated to be about 60 feet (about 18 meters) long, larger than modern female sperm whales.
Leviathan whale named after American writer Herman Melville
In contrast, modern sperm whales feed primarily on squid, while melville whales' large teeth (up to 40 cm long) suggest that the behemoth has preyed on tougher prey, even baleen whales larger than itself.
Fossil skull of Melville whale
There is currently only one fossil skull of Melville whale in the world, found in South America. The skull alone is 3 meters long, the teeth are 36 centimeters long, and the whole body is estimated to be 13.5-17 meters long. The body size and appearance are similar to those of modern sperm whales. But in contrast to modern sperm whales, which only have functional teeth in the lower jaw, melville whales have teeth on both jaws and are much larger than those of modern sperm whales: the largest in existence.
Nine, megalodon
We are all too familiar with the megalodon, and there have been many movies based on it. It lived about 28 million to 1.5 million years ago, and giant sharks are the ultimate predators of their time of existence. In Greek it means "big teeth". This shark is about 16-20 meters or even longer and weighs about 47 tons. It is a creature with the strongest biting force in the history of the earth, with an average bite force of 20 tons, the maximum bite force of up to 28 tons, and its tooth tearing force greatly exceeds that of the Tyrannosaurus rex.
In comparison, it is indeed very large
Megalodons are strong, streamlined, can hunt any creature in the sea, and prefer to prey on cetaceans. Other marine mammals are also on its plate. It can be said that the megalodon is a meat-eating machine without compromise.
Carnivorous machine - megalodon
Megalodons attack animals that breathe on the surface of the sea. Megalodon sharks can swim quickly over short distances and attack from under their prey. When hunting large prey, megalodon sharks may first attack their tail or fins, rendering them incapacitated before tearing them apart and eating them.
Ten, the Wind God Pterodactyl
During the age of the dinosaurs, 230 million to 0.65 billion years ago, there lived a large and flying reptile that, although not hunting during flight, hunted on land and often fed on young Tyrannosaurus rex or other species in the dinosaur world. This is the Aeolian Pterodactyl, also known as the Pterodactyl, which lived in the Late Cretaceous Period, about 84 million to 65 million years ago, the Wingspan of the Aeolian Pterodactyl exceeded 15 meters long, it is the largest flying animal known to mankind.
The overlord of the sky and land, the Wind God Pterodactyl
Aeolian pterosaurs are a pterodactyl species. The origin of the name is the feathered serpent god Quiztek in the Aztec civilization. The body of the Aeolian Pterodactyl was streamlined and required a large amount of protein for energy. A small Tyrannosaurus rex weighing less than three hundred pounds can be used as a delicacy. The Aeolian Pterodactyl has huge wings, which makes it ideal for long-distance gliding.
The juvenile skull of Aeolian Pterodactyl is 1 meter long and has a wingspan of 5.5 meters; The skulls of adult individuals have not been found, and according to the wing bone fragments, the wingspan is at least 10 to 11 meters, which is the largest flying animal in the history of life on Earth.
Aeolian pterosaurs contrast with humans
The mouth of the Aeolian pterosaur was long and thin, with no teeth in the mouth; the front of the beak was not sharp, but blunt; its anterior orbital foramen was huge, accounting for almost half of the total length of the skull, which undoubtedly reduced the weight of its large head; the wind god pterosaur had a ridge crown on the dragon's head, located above the orbital front, which was different from other pterosaurs of the genus, such as the Linhai Zhejiang Pterodactyl, which did not have a ridge crown on their heads; the neck of the Aeolus pterosaur was very long, up to 2 meters long, supported by long tendons and muscles between the shoulders and the head; its legs were long and had the effect of balancing the large head. From a distance, the Aeolian Pterodactyl took on a appearance similar to that of a crane or stork.
Linhai Zhejiang Pterodactyl
If these prehistoric creatures are still alive today, where do we humans go?
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