The prehistoric era in most people is associated with dinosaurs. About 240 million years ago, in the Cretaceous and Jurassic, they were the dominant vertebrates on the planet. Huge creatures became extinct about 60 million years before the appearance of the first humanoid. Let's look into the distant past of the Earth and you have terrible prehistoric animals that are not dinosaurs.
1
Titanoboa
The largest snake ever inhabited the planet. It reached a length of 13 meters, and weighed a little more than a ton. The remains of a snake that lived about 61–58 million years ago were found in a Colombian coal mine.
Snakes are cold-blooded creatures; therefore, huge titanoboa could live in warm regions with an average temperature of + 30–34 ° С. It was the warm climate that made it possible in those remote times to reach cold-blooded snakes of such enormous size. Even the largest modern snakes can not be compared with them in size.
She appeared immediately after the extinction of the dinosaurs, and therefore easily occupied the empty niche of predators. Studies by zoologists have shown that she ate fish.
2
Liopleurodon
In the depths of the oceans in the Middle Jurassic lived a pliosaurus, reaching a length of 10 meters. The name consists of three words, which means “smooth”, “side” and “tooth”.
The marine reptile had a massive skull with sharp teeth. The pliosaurus swam superbly with the help of four large flippers. The marine inhabitant was a dangerous predator, eating large fish, mollusks, and other reptiles. Despite their huge size, the animals were quite agile and dexterous.
Lyoplervrodons died out simultaneously with dinosaurs. Perhaps climate change has led to the extinction of some of the species they hunted. Fossil remains were discovered in France, England, Germany and Norway.
3
Sarcosuchus
Photo by: HombreDHojalata / CC BY-SA
In the world scientific classification, huge extinct crocodilomorphs are called Sarcosuchus. He lived at the beginning of the Jurassic in Africa.
The dangerous predator reached a length of 9 meters, and weighed 2-3 tons. This is not a crocodile, but a distant relative of the living crocodiles. Huge and strong jaws made it possible to cope with large prey. With powerful jaws he squeezed the prey, and then tore it with sharp teeth. He hunted dinosaurs: both herbivores and predators.
For the first time, a large predator that lived on the planet 110 million years ago was described in 1966. Then only teeth were examined, and today part of the spine and almost half of the skeleton have already been discovered.
By the way, on most-beauty.ru you can admire photos of the most beautiful crocodiles.
4
Mozasaurus
Sea reptiles were the largest of the Mosasauridae family. Individual individuals grew to 17 meters. The lizard from the Moza River terrified all marine inhabitants of the Cretaceous period.
The large jaws were filled with large sharp teeth, with the help of which the marine dinosaur cut meat and crushed bones. He swam superbly with the help of fins and a huge tail.
Fossils found in different parts of the planet, allowed to distinguish several species of mosasaurs. All of them differ in size and some structural features of the skeleton. Traces of fractures and bites were found on some bones. These are traces of the fierce fights of marine reptiles with their own kind.
5
Megalodon
The proper scientific name for the giant shark is Otodus megalodon. It was believed that the prehistoric marine inhabitant is similar to a white shark.
Recent studies have shown that the body structure and behavior of megalodons are very different from all types of modern sharks. The largest fish of all time reached a length of 15 meters, and the largest individuals weighed about 35-40 tons. Dimensions, powerful jaws and sharp teeth made it possible to attack large prey.
Megalodon attacked his victims from an ambush. Dangerous marine predators died out about 3 million years ago, unable to withstand competition with other predators during the food crisis.
6
Quetzalcoatl
The largest representative of the pterosaur squad lived on the planet about 70 million years ago. Remains found only in North America.
The wingspan, according to various sources, reached 15 meters, and this was the most dangerous creature of all ever flying in the sky. They called the flying predator in honor of the Aztec god Feathered Serpent. A massive body and a powerful beak allowed hunting small dinosaurs.
Some zoologists believe that quetzalcoatl ate fish and carrion. But flying low over the water, and catching beak fish was very energy-consuming for such massive creatures. A small part of the fossil remains does not allow to recreate the full size, but it is already clear that the flying predator was huge.
7
Gorgonops
One of the first primitive beasts that lived on Earth in the Late Permian. A formidable predator that terrified the inhabitants of the earth even before the advent of the dinosaurs.
Individual individuals reached a length of 4.5 meters. They had powerful jaws and sharp teeth. Sharp fangs protruded. They were agile, fast, which allowed them to climb to the top of the food chain. Zoologists suggest that these were the first animals of the planet that were able to run fast.
Some representatives of gorgonops could hunt in the water. The structure of the skeleton and limbs allowed them to swim perfectly. The remains were discovered on all continents.
8
Fororakosovy
A family of extinct flightless birds that lived in South America during the Paleocene and Pliocene. The largest representative was the Kelenken, growing up to 3 meters in height.
The carnivorous bird had sharp hooks at the tips of its wings. They held the victim with them, and inflicted powerful blows with a massive beak. The birds did not fly, but they ran fast. Could long pursue the victim or attack from an ambush. Their skull reached 75 cm, and this is the largest of all birds living on the planet.
They hunted small animals. Fossil remains make it possible to trace migration from the southern regions to the north after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama.
9
Megateria
The huge sloths who lived in South and North America reached 6 meters in length. The size of an elephant, he looked more like a bear in appearance.
He could rise on his hind legs, and thus moved, leaning on a powerful tail. There were sharp claws on the paws. Megaterium was a herbivore and used growth and claws to press tree branches to the ground. Massive forelimbs fought off predators.
Some scholars have suggested that they could be omnivores, but the structure of the teeth precludes this possibility. A Stone Age man could freely hunt huge sloths, as large animals became extinct about 10 thousand years ago.
10
Titanoid
The first truly large mammals that lived in America about 57-60 million years ago. They reached a length of slightly more than 2.2 meters, and the weight reached 200–250 kg.
Based on the found fossils, it was possible to recreate the appearance. They had short legs, and they looked like modern bears. There were sharp claws on the limbs. Paleontologists found their sharp teeth in fossil deposits.
Despite its impressive size, sharp claws and teeth, titanoid was a herbivore. I ate fruits, leaves of plants and trees. With the help of claws could pull out roots. The Titanodes were powerful, but often fell prey to dangerous predators.
11
Indricoteria
In Slavic folklore, Indriks called fairy-tale animals. This wild beast of the hyracodont family lived on the planet 30–20 million years ago.
The height of the indricoteria reached 4.8 meters, and weighed up to 17 tons. Mammal remains are found in vast areas of Asia. Parts of the skeleton were discovered near the Aral Sea. The largest mammals living on the planet moving on land.
The Indricoteries fed on grass, leaves of shrubs and trees. These were the closest relatives of modern rhinos. Most likely, they died out due to climate change, when the nutritional base was sharply reduced.
12
Tilacosmil
To complete our list, a unique marsupial saber-toothed tiger from the order Sparassodonta. These dangerous predators lived 10 million years ago. Thylacosmilus atrox received its scientific name in 1933.
They grew up to 2 meters in length, ran perfectly. Long upper fangs sprouted on the skull. Agility, powerful jaws and fangs made it possible to hunt large herbivores. Interestingly, tilakosmil was not a relative of modern saber-toothed tigers, but was the result of convergent evolution.
Tilacosmils became extinct, unable to withstand competition with saber-toothed cats that infiltrated the South American continent.
Summarize
In the photo: Dimetrodon
Many prehistoric inhabitants of the Earth, living millions of years ago, were no less dangerous predators than dinosaurs. Almost all of these strong and large mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, huge deer and wild boars became extinct, becoming the distant ancestors of modern animal species that adorn our beautiful planet.
Naturally, this is an incomplete list of prehistoric animals, and the editors of the site most-beauty.ru will be glad if readers recall other animals, birds and marine life that died out many millions of years ago.