In the course of 4.6 billion years of history, the Earth has experienced five mass extinctions, and between each extinction, 80 to 90 percent of the creatures will disappear, and we usually refer to those organisms that lived between 3.8 billion years ago and about 3500 BC when humans began to retain written records. Almost 99% of prehistoric creatures are extinct, leaving only remains, footprints or fossils.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" Data-track="36" What are the prehistoric creatures that have disappeared >? </h1>
470 million years ago - Fangjiaoshi
470 million years ago in the Ordovician, the ocean lived a creature called hornstone, which is a kind of nautilus, up to 9 meters long, is the largest mollusk we know at present, and is also the top predator living in the deep sea at that time, mainly eating some shellfish, such as trilobites. The creature disappeared during the first mass extinction event 450 million years ago.
400 million years ago – shield fish
By 400 million years ago, the earth's oceans appeared in the body of the shield fish wrapped tightly by "armor", of which the fear fish is the best of the shield fish, it first appeared in the late Silurian period, flourished in the Devonian Period, dominated the ancient ocean, its body length can reach more than 12 meters, the mouth is more than 1 meter wide when open, large and fierce. Not only is the body size frightening, but the bite force of the fish is also terrible, reaching 612 kg and can bite into food in 0.02 seconds. In the oceans of the time, the fish were also at the top of the food chain.
252 million years ago – the Plesiosaurus
Hundreds of millions of years later, amphibians crawled from the water to the land, evolved the earliest reptiles, 252 million years ago, the emergence of the beast, this is the first animal to grow canine teeth, the largest size of more than 2.5 meters, is the emergence of dinosaurs, one of the most powerful predators on land, mainly living in the desert and coniferous forests, running fast, can exceed 100 kilometers per hour. Extinct in the third mass extinction 250 million years ago.
235 million years ago – dinosaurs
Then there are the dinosaurs we are familiar with, the largest dinosaur found in the world is ThunderOsaurus, scientists speculate that this dinosaur is about 20 meters high, more than 40 meters long, and can weigh up to 77 tons, equivalent to 14 elephants, but ThunderOsaurus is a herbivorous dinosaur, the largest carnivorous dinosaur is of course Tyrannosaurus rex, Tyrannosaurus rex length can reach 13 meters. The shoulder height is about 5 meters, the average weight is about 9 tons, and the combined bite force is more than 8163 kg.
84 million years ago – Aeolian Pterodactyl
Flying in the sky, is the largest flying animal that appeared 84 million years ago - the Aeolian Pterosaurus, its wingspan is about 11 meters, the average weight of 250 kg, the Aeolian Pterosaurus mainly preyed on small dinosaurs, and some mammals, it is speculated that its food includes the familiar Tyrannosaurus rex, of course, this is certainly not an adult large Tyrannosaurus rex.
60 million years ago – Titan Python
By 60 million years ago, the largest python on the earth appeared, this snake is called titan python, non-venomous, in 2009 in the coal mine in Colombia, people accidentally found 28 titan python fossils, the longest of which grew to 15 meters, the body diameter can reach 1 meter, they became extinct 58 million years ago.
25 million years ago – the Mulberry Pseudoodont
By 25 million years ago, the largest bird on Earth, called the Mulberry Pseudolodon, with a wingspan of between 6.1 and 7.4 meters, was a seabird that could soar for miles in the sky without flapping its wings.
23 million years ago – megalodons
23 million years ago, the megalodon appeared, its body length can reach 14 meters, the longest is even 20 meters, weighing more than 70 tons, is the world's largest bite force animal, can easily bite the skull of a whale. Some biologists believe it is not extinct yet, because new fossils of megalodon sharks can be found in the ocean, some of which can be speculated to have formed 10,000 years ago, and some marine animals have found bite marks that resemble those left by megalodons.
3 million to 10,000 years ago - saber-toothed tiger
3 million to 10,000 years ago, the largest tiger on the earth, saber-toothed tiger, they have two particularly long canine teeth, canine teeth can grow up to 36 cm, body length of 2.7 meters, weigh between 200 and 400 kg, is currently the largest known cat on the earth, mainly preying on large mammals, such as mammoths, short-faced bears, and earth otters.
1.5 million years ago – ancient monitor lizards
1.5 million years ago, the largest land lizard appeared, called the ancient monitor lizard, this lizard lived in Australia, about 40,000 years ago extinct, has not found a complete skeleton, mainly skull, according to the proportion of the current lizard to calculate, its body length may reach more than 9 meters, weigh more than 2 tons, the limbs are very strong, full of sharp teeth.
1.8 to 11,000 Years Ago— Short-Faced Bears
By 1.8 million to 11,000 years ago, that is, the ice age, the largest bear on the earth, the short-faced bear, which could reach more than 3.7 meters in height and weigh more than 1 ton, and was arguably the most powerful carnivore on the American continent.
A Million Years Ago- Giant Monkey
1 million years ago, in China, India and Vietnam and other regions appeared giant apes, they are 3 meters tall, weight can reach 550 kilograms, is one of the strongest in history, the strongest fighting power of the ape, if you want to understand their combat power, you may wish to refer to King Kong, the giant ape was extinct more than 300,000 years ago.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" > what would it be like if these behemoths appeared on Earth today? </h1>
If prehistoric creatures did emerge, the first thing that comes to mind is whether they would survive in their current environment. There is a big difference between the current earth and the prehistoric natural environment, and most of it is caused by humans, such as global warming, which not only leads to sea level rise, but also directly leads to the warming of seawater, and prehistoric marine life may not be able to adapt to the current marine environment.
In fact, it is a question of the oxygen content of the oceans, we said before, some prehistoric creatures can grow so huge, part of the reason is that they live in an oxygen-rich environment, the prehistoric Earth's atmosphere can reach up to 35% oxygen content, and now the Earth's oxygen content is only 21%, if the prehistoric organisms can not overcome such differences, the final result can only go to extinction.
Finally, whether they will pose a threat to Earth's current ecosystems, including humans at the top of the food chain. Although most of the prehistoric creatures we exemplified earlier are not as large as blue whales, do not ignore their ferocity, if there are no natural enemies on Earth to restrain them, as they slowly adapt to the earth's environment, I believe they will soon multiply, and eventually cause a devastating blow to other creatures on the earth, even humans.