The most famous prehistoric predators. Interesting details about prehistoric animals
Horseshoe crabs are considered to be the most ancient animals living on Earth - aquatic chelicerates from the class merostomaceae. On this moment There are four known modern species of these arthropods. They live in shallow waters tropical seas South-East Asia And Atlantic coast North America. Horseshoe crabs appeared on our planet approximately 450 million years ago.
Neopilin cephalopods originated on Earth 355-400 million years ago. They live in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans at depths from 1800 to 6500 meters. These creatures were discovered only in 1957.
Coelacanths are the only one modern gender lobe-finned fish and are now considered living fossils. Now there are only two species of coelacanths - one lives off the eastern and southern coasts of Africa, and the second was first described only in 1997-1999. near the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.
Interestingly, at the moment, scientists do not know what a young coelacanth looks like and where young fish live for the first few years of their lives - not a single young individual was identified during dives. It is believed that coelacanths originated on Earth 300-400 million years ago.
Cockroaches appeared on our planet about 320 million years ago and have been actively spreading since then - to currently Scientists know more than 200 genera and 4,500 species.
The remains of cockroaches are, along with the remains of cockroaches, the most numerous traces of insects in Paleozoic deposits.
The oldest surviving to this day large predator is a crocodile. However, it is considered the only surviving species of crurotarsians - a group that also included a number of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. It is believed that crocodiles appeared on Earth approximately 250 million years ago.
Crocodiles are common in all tropical countries, living in a variety of fresh water bodies; relatively few species are tolerant of salt water and are found in coastal seas ( Nile crocodile, saltwater crocodile, African narrow-snouted crocodile).
The first crocodiles lived mainly on land and only later moved on to life in the water. All modern crocodiles They are adapted to a semi-aquatic lifestyle - living in water, they, however, lay eggs on land.
Small crustaceans class Gill-footed shields appeared on Earth 220-230 million years ago, when dinosaurs still lived on the planet. Shield bugs are small creatures and are rarely longer than 12 cm, however due to unique system they managed to survive.
The fact is that shieldfish live in stagnant water of temporary fresh water bodies, due to which they are spared natural enemies and in their niche they are at the top of the ecological pyramid.
Hatteria, a species of reptile, is the only modern representative of the ancient order of beaked animals. They live only on a few islands of New Zealand, although on the North and South Islands Hatterias are already extinct.
These reptiles grow up to 50 years old, and average duration life is 100 years. It is believed that they originated on the planet 220 million years ago, and now tuataria are included in the IUCN Red List and have the conservation status of a vulnerable species.
The Nephila spider is not only considered the oldest on the planet - scientists believe that this genus originated about 165 million years ago - but it is also the largest web-weaving spider. These spiders live in Australia, Asia, Africa, America and the island of Madagascar.
Interestingly, fishermen collect Nephila webs, form them into a ball, which they then throw into the water to catch fish.
Everything new seems perfect to us, everything old seems outdated in everything. Imagine a new car from the last exhibition and compare it with a car from the last century, snorting, smelling and outrunning turtles. Once upon a time you had to say “girl, Smolny” into the phone, but now you can read on the phone. The dusty things of yesterday are angular, bulky, overweight and do not do their job well. It’s the same in: with the change of eras, the requirements for the exterior of organisms change. Once upon a time the world was ruled by dragons, now - fluffies ( white tiger or a dark man, for example), the first animals were little more than a fly, but over millions of years they developed into elephants. Evolution, sir. Species that were unprepared for changing living conditions were driven into an evolutionary dead end, but they left many bones, teeth and prints as souvenirs for archaeologists.
We invite you to get acquainted with a dozen interesting fossil creatures, somewhat similar to those found on farms and zoos, but completely ridiculous by the standards of modern “design”. As a sign of respect for Nature, species names We will print creatures with a capital letter.
Terminator pigs
For thousands of centuries, hellish pigs Entelodonts have inspired fierce fear in the inhabitants of the forests and fields of North America and Eurasia. This was at the time when oil was born, 25 - 40 million years ago. Like any grandiose pig, Entelodont loved to eat. The big-headed terminators did not disdain anything. Being the most strong predators of their era, they hunted both large proto-hippos and small things the size of a cat. If there was no game, the menu included the tops and roots of plants, random carrion, and even their own young. In terms of strength and intelligence, an entelodont is equivalent to a 4-ton bulldozer with a brain no larger than an orange. It is believed that Entelodonts are highly respected in modern Kazakhstan.
Walking horn stand
The owner of the most spreading antlers in natural history, the proud Irish deer Megaceros was similar in texture to an elegant doe one and a half horses tall. Megaceros grazed in the wet meadows of Eurasia, where it died out 7 thousand years ago. The size of his headdress was the envy of cavemen. There is something to admire: 4 meters wide, 2 meters high. To carry such a marvel, a very powerful skeleton was required, but it did not save the stags from extinction. The eternal struggle of males for a place in the hierarchy of the herd led to the fact that the “advantages” became more branchy and heavier, and soon began to simply interfere with life. Due to the fact that all the mineral nutrition went into the growth of horns, the bones of the skeleton became brittle and the species degraded. The last Irish deer was eaten by a real Celt with a red beard.
“From a cannon to sparrows”
Another absurd giant of antiquity, a 5-meter-tall hornless rhinoceros nicknamed Indricotherium, had an excessively massive body and column-like legs. This is the largest land mammal in the entire history of the planet (more than a mammoth). The only meaning of Indricothere's life was to eat tree leaves. External enemies a giant who could accidentally step on a lion and not notice it did not. His appetite failed - when there were few trees on Earth, about 20 million years ago, Indricoterium ordered the more graceful creatures to live long.
Battleship "Volkswagen"
One of the strangest creatures the world has ever seen is the giant armadillo Glyptodont, the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. This beast was extremely clumsy, but the lack of mobility was compensated by powerful armor on the head and back, as well as a strong spiked tail (to hit a saber-toothed tiger in the face). Lived in South America, was not afraid of anyone, nibbled grass on the banks of rivers and lakes. It died out when the climate cooled sharply and there was no food - 12 thousand years ago. Many empty shells survived from the Glyptodonts. Ancient South American people loved to hide in them from rain and snow.
Doodle shark
The fossil shark Megalodon (“too tooth”) was the largest predatory fish in the world and could gobble up a “killer” white shark like a crucian fisherman. King of the seas, Megalodon reached a length of 12 meters and weighed from 60 to 100 tons. About 300 teeth, 15 centimeters long, were chattering in his nightmare mouth. These sharks disappeared about 2 million years ago. They hunted small whales in warm seas, but in the Pliocene warm seas disappeared, but cunning, voracious killer whales multiplied, among whom shark eggs were considered a special delicacy. They didn't save the monster...
Horn for smell
Another striking representative of megafauna is Elasmotherium or “gorbolob”. This is the shaggy, elephant-sized ancestor of the modern rhinoceros, crowned with a long (up to 2 m) and thick woolly cap growing from its forehead. Despite its 5 tons, Elasmotherium ran quite quickly through the valleys and floodplains of what is now Russia, Ukraine and Turkestan, plowing the soil with its muzzle in search of tasty roots. It is believed that huge horn Elasmotherium served as an additional olfactory organ. With its help, the beast sniffed out its favorite underground foods. Elasmotherium disappeared already under mankind and served as the prototype of the fairy-tale unicorn.
Live Bomber
Hatzegopteryx, the largest of the flying lizards, was discovered recently, in 2002. The wingspan of the creature, which lived 100 million years ago, reached 12-13 meters, like that of the Nazi Junkers. If these diving monsters existed now, they could feed on people like seagulls on fish. To lift Hatzegopteryx into the air, an extremely light skeleton made of hollow bones was required, and the large skull was similar in structure to foam plastic. Therefore, the weight of the monster did not exceed 100 kg. Hatzegopteryx, like all dinosaurs, died out mysteriously.
Jurassic Park and all its sequels were just a fairy tale with no hope of being realized. real world. The vile that bit them lay too long under the ground and in the stones. In addition, they are found in hot, dry places, unlike mammoths, well-preserved quick-frozen products, from which you can even cook something for dinner.
That is why the mammoth is being cloned, right now, when you are reading about it. And not only mammoth...
The zebra horse is extinct! Long live the horse zebra!
With Quagga - like with Belarusian language, which the ignorant consider a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian. wild Horse Quagga was endemic South Africa and was neither a zebra nor a horse, but independent branch evolution. A person photographed Quagga alive only once, and then at the zoo, and then in 1870 (portrait attached). By that time, they no longer existed in nature - they were all eaten, and rugs were made from the skins. The rugs were in some places perfectly preserved, like new, so Quagga became the first of the extinct animals whose DNA could be isolated and studied. It turned out that an ordinary zebra can carry, give birth to, and feed a Quagga collected in vitro. In 2006, good specimens of foals were obtained. Now they are adults and idly graze in the reserve. Unlike the zebra, Quagga is easy to tame; at one time, her gullibility was her undoing.
Laziness is the engine of progress
The modern sloth beast looks like a monkey stabbed to death with sedatives. He is so inhibited that moss grows on his back ears. In order for no one to touch him, it is enough for the sloth to lie in the crown for days. And once upon a time sloths were big, and they had to run from tree to tree. The last of these giants were seen in the mid-16th century in the Antilles. Megatheriums reached 5 meters in height (they walked mainly on hind legs) and were proud of their powerful claws, which could be used to hit back at anyone. It is known that giant sloths Megatheria roamed both Americas, but no one knows why they became extinct.
A large crocodile walked around Africa
The ten-meter ancestor of the crocodile Suchomimus had an elongated jaw with hundreds of sharp teeth and even sharper saber claws. 112 million years ago, in the present Sahara, everyone was afraid of Suchomimus, except for the stupid fish, which this good-natured and graceful crocodile ate, pricking it on its paw as if on a fork. Then the fish fell onto the hypertrophied front teeth, and only then into the huge mouth. In pictures, Suchomimus is depicted as angry, but we know: it is he, the best fisherman of his era, who poses like that.
The most unusual “manicure” in the history of the Earth
Therizinosaurs are brilliant. The weight of an elephant, the height of a giraffe, a beak instead of a mouth... But the main thing is natural claws a meter long. Oddly enough, having such an argument for distributing slaps in the face, Therizinosaurus was not a predator. With super claws, this cute lizard mowed grass, ravaged anthills, and made its way into the thicket of the forest. Some researchers believe that Therizinosaurus was a shrew and used its formidable claws to dig giant holes for itself.
Either a tiger, or a wolf, or a dog
The Tasmanian tiger, also known as the marsupial wolf, also known as the Sackdog (thylacine) was the largest of marsupial predators and became completely extinct by 1934. He was greatly disliked by farmers who brought sheep to Australia, which the Sackdog allegedly enjoyed hunting. It is reliably known that the viciousness from the striped-back was especially severe on the tuziki, which the Sackdog tore like rubber hot water bottles with its 46 teeth. For every killed marsupial wolf They gave a bonus, but realized it too late. In May 2008, Australian biologists managed to make the Meshkops gene work in a mouse embryo, so we will be looking forward to clones. Dogs, get ready to put your tails between your legs (boxers too)!
Millions of years ago the world was different. It was inhabited by prehistoric animals, beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Dinosaurs, sea predators of monstrous size, giant birds, mammoths and saber-toothed tigers - they have long disappeared, but interest in them does not fade.
The first inhabitants of the planet
When did the first living creatures appear on Earth? More than three and a half billion years ago, single-celled organisms arose.
It took as much as two billion years before multicellular living organisms appeared. Approximately 635 million years ago, the Earth was inhabited, and at the beginning of the Cambrian period, by vertebrates.
The most ancient remains of living organisms found to date date back to the late Neoproterozoic.
During the Cambrian period, life existed only in the seas. Prominent representatives The prehistoric animals of that time were trilobites.
Due to frequent underwater landslides, many living organisms were buried in the mud and survived to this day. Thanks to this, scientists have quite full picture structure and lifestyle of trilobites and other ancient sea creatures.
Prehistoric animals actively developed on land and in the sea. First inhabitants wet places surface of the Earth - arthroplasties and millipedes. In the mid-Devonian, amphibians joined them.
Ancient insects
Appearing in the early Devonian period, the insects developed successfully. Many species have disappeared over time. Some of them were gigantic in size.
Meganeura belonged to the genus of dragonfly-like insects. Its wingspan was up to 75 centimeters. She was a predator.
Ancient insects have been studied quite well. And ordinary tree resin helped scientists with this. Hundreds of millions of years ago it flowed down tree trunks and became death trap for careless insects.
They have been perfectly preserved in their original transparent sarcophagi to this day. Thanks to amber, into which fossilized resin has turned, today anyone can admire the ancient inhabitants of our planet.
Prehistoric sea animals - dangerous giants
In the Triassic period the first marine reptiles. They could not, like fish, live completely underwater. They needed oxygen, and they periodically rose to the surface. Outwardly they looked like land dinosaurs, but differed in limbs - sea inhabitants had fins or webbed feet.
The first to appear were nothosaurs, which reached a size of 3 to 6 meters, and placodes, which had three types of teeth. Placodus were small size(about 2 meters) and lived near the shore. Their main food was shellfish. Nothosaurs ate fish.
The Jurassic period is the era of giants. Plesiosaurs lived at this time. The largest species reached a length of 15 meters. These include Elasmosaurus, which had amazing long neck(8 meters). The head, compared to the massive body, was small. Elasmosaurus had a wide mouth armed with sharp teeth.
Ichthyosaurs - large reptiles, reaching an average of 2-4 meters in length, were similar to modern dolphins. Their feature is huge eyes, which indicates a nocturnal lifestyle. They, unlike dinosaurs, had skin without scales. It is assumed that ichthyosaurs were excellent deep-sea divers.
More than forty million years ago there lived a Basilosaurus - an ancient whale huge size. The length of a male individual could reach 21 meters. It was the largest predator of its time and could attack other whales. Basilosaurus had a very long skeleton and moved by bending its spine, like a snake. It had vestigial hind limbs 60 centimeters long.
Marine prehistoric animals were very diverse. Among them are the ancestors of modern sharks and crocodiles. The most famous sea predator ancient world is a megalodon, reaching 16-20 meters in length. This giant weighed about 50 tons. Since the skeleton of this shark consisted of cartilage, nothing survived except the animal's enamel-covered teeth. It is assumed that the distance between the open jaws of the megalodon reached two meters. It could easily fit two people.
No less dangerous predators There were also prehistoric crocodiles.
Purussaurus is an extinct relative of modern caimans that lived approximately eight million years ago. Length - up to 15 meters.
Deinosuchus is a crocodile from the alligator genus that lived at the end of the Cretaceous period. Outwardly, it was not much different from modern representatives of the species. The body length reached 15 meters.
The most terrible: ancient lizards
Dinosaurs and other prehistoric sizes continue to amaze. It is difficult to imagine that such giants once reigned on the planet.
The Mesozoic era is the time of dinosaurs. Appearing at the end of the Triassic, they became main form life in Jurassic period and suddenly disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous.
Amazes species diversity these ancient lizards. Among them were terrestrial and aquatic species, flying species, herbivores and predators. They also differed in size. Most dinosaurs were huge, but there were also very small dinosaurs. Among predators, Spinosaurus stood out especially for its size. The length of his body ranged from 14 to 18 meters, height - eight meters. With its elongated jaws it resembled modern crocodiles. Therefore, it is assumed that he led an amphibious lifestyle. A special feature of Spinosaurus was the presence of a spinal ridge that resembled a sail. It made him seem taller. Paleontologists believe that the sail was used by the animal for thermoregulation.
Ancient birds
Prehistoric animals (photos can be seen in the article) were also represented by flying lizards and birds.
Pterosaurs appeared in the Mesozoic. Presumably, the largest of them was Ornithocheirus, which had wings with a span of up to 15 meters. He lived in Cretaceous period, was a predator and preferred to hunt large fish. Pteranodon is another large flying predatory lizard of the Cretaceous period.
Among prehistoric birds, Gastornis was striking in its size. The two-meter-tall individuals had a beak that could easily break bones. It is not precisely established whether this extinct bird was a predator or consumed plant food.
Fororakos - predatory bird, who lived in the Miocene. The height reached 2.5 meters. Its curved, sharp beak and powerful claws made it dangerous.
Extinct animals of the Cenozoic era
It began 66 million years ago. During this time, thousands of species of living beings appeared and disappeared on Earth. What were the most interesting extinct prehistoric animals of that time?
Megatherium - largest mammal of that era, it is assumed that it was a herbivore, but it is possible that megatherium could kill other animals or feed on carrion.
Woolly rhinoceros - was covered with thick red-brown hair.
Mammoth is the most famous extinct species of elephant. Animals lived two million years ago and were twice as large as modern representatives of their species. Many remains of mammoths have been found, very well preserved thanks to permafrost. By historical standards, these majestic giants became extinct quite recently - about 10 thousand years ago.
Of the predatory prehistoric animals, the most interesting is Smilodon, or Saber-toothed tiger. It did not exceed the size Amur tiger, but he had incredibly long fangs, reaching 28 centimeters. Another feature of Smilodon was its short tail.
Titanoboa - extinct giant snake. Close relative modern boa constrictor. The length of the animal could reach 13 meters.
Documentary films about prehistoric animals
Among them we can note such as “ Sea dinosaurs: Trip to prehistoric world", "Land of the Mammoths", " Last days Dinosaurs", "Prehistoric Chronicles", "Walking with Dinosaurs". There are a lot of good documentaries created about the life of ancient animals.
“The Ballad of Big Al” - the amazing story of one Allosaurus
This film is part of the famous Walking with Dinosaurs series. He talks about how a perfectly preserved skeleton of an Allosaurus was found in the USA, which was obtained from scientists name Big Al. The bones showed how many fractures and injuries the dinosaur suffered, and this made it possible to reconstruct the history of its life.
Conclusion
Prehistoric animals (dinosaurs, mammoths, cave bears, sea giants), who lived in the distant past, still amaze the human imagination today. They are clear evidence of how amazing the Earth's past was.
Exactly 75 years ago, the most ancient fish in the world - coelacanth, which existed on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. In honor of this event, we invite you to learn about her and other ancient animals and plants that inhabit our planet today.
1. Coelacanth.
It was previously believed that these fish became extinct in the Late Cretaceous (100.5 - 66 million years ago), but in December 1938, curator of the East London Museum (South Africa) Marjorie Courtney-Latimer discovered a fish with hard scales and unusual fins in the catch of local fishermen . It later turned out that this fish lived hundreds of millions of years ago and is a living fossil.
Since this coelacanth was discovered in the Chalumna River, it was named Latimeria chalumnae. And in September 1997, in the waters near the city of Manado, located on the northern coast of the island of Sulawesi, scientists noticed a second species of these fish - Latimeria menadoensis. According to genetic studies, these species separated 30-40 million years ago, but the differences between them are small.
Thus, both species have a three-lined caudal fin, which is characteristic of fish that lived millions of years ago. But main feature coelacanths lie in the fact that their powerful fins move diagonally, like the limbs of land-based four-legged animals. In turn, the hard scales of these fish serve as protection from predators.
Being nocturnal fish, coelacanths spend the day in underwater caves at a depth of 95 to 100 meters, and when evening comes, they emerge from their hiding places and begin to look for food.
Interestingly, these fish do not spawn, but produce up to 26 fully developed young. Their pregnancy is believed to last about a year or more.
2. Ginkgo biloba.
IN wildlife this plant grows only in eastern China. However, 200 million years ago it was widespread throughout the planet, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, in areas with temperate climate And high humidity. In Siberia of the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods, there were so many plants of the Ginkgo class that their remains are found in most deposits of those periods. According to researchers, in the autumn of that time the earth was literally covered with ginkgo leaves, like a carpet.
Then there were 50 species of plants from the ginkgo class, but today there is only one. However, the wild form of even this species may soon disappear. After all, ginkgo biloba grows only in two small areas of China, which today are actively cultivated by humans. That is why ginkgo has been given the status of “endangered species”.
At favorable conditions Ginkgo may well live for more than 1,000 years. It is resistant to industrial air smoke and various fungal and viral diseases, and in addition, it is rarely affected by insects. The tree can reach a height of 30 meters, its trunk is 3 meters in diameter. It has a pyramidal crown shape, which becomes even more magnificent with age. And its leaves, in their shape, resemble the leaves of ancient ferns.
This tree is mentioned in Chinese books from the 17th century. Since that time, in China, Japan and Korea, ginkgo biloba began to be considered sacred tree and a symbol of endurance and longevity.
In 1730, the oldest tree was brought to Europe and planted in Milan botanical garden, and about 50 years later it was brought to North America. After this, ginkgo began to be cultivated, and the plant began to appear in gardens and parks around the world.
3. Small deer, or kanchil,- this is not only the smallest (his height at the withers is no more than 25 centimeters, but Weight Limit about 2.5 kilograms), but also the most ancient look artiodactyls on Earth. These animals existed 50 million years ago, just when orders of ancient ungulates began to form. Since that time, the kanchila has remained almost unchanged and resembles its ancient ancestors more than other species.
It is the primitive features of appearance and behavior that make deer more similar to pigs than to artiodactyls. All species of kanchila lack horns, but have fangs used males in battle. In addition, they have short legs, which makes them quite clumsy, but helps them easily get through thickets deciduous trees. Just like pigs, kanchilas have hooves on their legs with two lateral toes.
Surprisingly, scientists believe that whales evolved from moisture-loving animals similar to deer. And this is quite likely, because today, as in ancient times, some species show great love to water and spend a lot of time in bodies of water.
4. Mississippi shellfish.
An alligator-like fish, the Mississippi shellfish (Atractosteus spathula) is one of the oldest fish living on Earth today. IN Mesozoic era her ancestors inhabited many bodies of water. Today the Mississippi batfish lives in the valley downstream the Mississippi River, as well as in some freshwater lakes in the United States.
IN North America Mississippian shellfish is the largest freshwater fish, which is usually between 2.4 m and 3 m in length and weighs at least 91 kg.
As it is not difficult to guess, the Mississippi shellfish - predatory fish. It usually feeds on other fish, but with its sharp, needle-shaped teeth it can bite through even a young alligator. But, despite this, not a single case of an attack on a person has been recorded. Hunting for familiar prey, the carapace hides in reeds or thickets of other vegetation, and then quickly attacks its prey from cover. If the fish is not hunting, it swims slowly or even freezes, sticking its “beak” out of the water to breathe air.
5. Shield insect Triops cancriformis.
These small freshwater crustaceans are considered the most ancient creatures living on Earth today. Representatives of this species have hardly changed since Triassic period. At that time, dinosaurs had just appeared. Today, these animals live on almost every continent except Antarctica. However, the species Triops cancriformis is most common in Eurasia.
The unique way of life of shieldfish has helped this species to remain almost unchanged and so long time. They spend their entire lives in temporary fresh water bodies such as puddles, ditches and ravines. There, shieldfish feed on everything that is smaller than them, and when there is a shortage of food, they often resort to cannibalism.
For more than one million years, in such reservoirs from buried in the ground previous generation Larvae appear from the shield cysts (developed embryos covered with a thin membrane). They usually hatch in one or two days. And within just two weeks they develop and become sexually mature individuals. After this, they mate and then bury the cysts in the ground. As soon as conditions favorable for shieldworms arise, larvae emerge from approximately half of the cysts. The other part remains in the ground in case the reservoir dries out very quickly, and the newly emerged scale insects die before they have time to bury their cysts.
It is interesting that, despite the high prevalence of shieldfish on Earth, they remain poorly studied animals. For example, scientists cannot understand why shieldbills often swim belly up at the surface of the water, given that in this way they show their reddish abdomen and become visible to birds.
6. Metasequoia glyptostroboides.
These conifers were widespread throughout Northern Hemisphere from Cretaceous to Neogene. However, today metasequoia can only be seen in the wild in central China, in the provinces of Hubei and Sichuan.
This plant was first discovered as fossilized remains on the island of Hokkaido, and only in 1943 were living trees found in the mountains of China. And in 2012 it was held genetic research ancient remains of metasequoia about 50-55 million years old and modern look, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, which revealed that the differences between them are very small.
7. Goblin Shark.
The genus Mitsukurina, to which this species of shark belongs, first became known through fossils that date back to the Middle Eocene (about 49-37 million years ago). The only one now existing look of this genus, the goblin shark, inhabiting the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, retained some primitive features of its ancient relatives, and today is a living fossil.
Science knows little about this unusual-looking creature. The goblin shark has very flexible jaws that extend outward when it catches prey. Like all sharks, it feeds on fish, for which its front – long and sharp – teeth are designed, but it will not refuse crustaceans and mollusks. The back teeth of a shark are adapted precisely for chewing shells.
This shark was first discovered in 1898 off the Jordanian coast of the Red Sea (in the Gulf of Aqaba). To date, only 45 specimens have been seen. The largest known specimen reached just over three meters in length and weighed 210 kilograms.
Today scientists do not have sufficient quantity information about this fish to tell whether this species is endangered or not. In many ways, what makes them so rare to observe is the fact that the goblin shark lives on great depth. Most specimens were seen at depths of 270 meters and 960 meters. However, several such sharks have been spotted at a depth of 1,300 meters.
When it comes to prehistoric animals, the first thing people think of is dinosaurs. However, many people forget that in addition to dinosaurs there were many others unusual creatures. This article is dedicated to the strangest animals that lived on the planet millions of years ago. Prehistoric animals photos TOP 10 strangest - look!
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest
Dunkleosteus
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus reveals the ten strangest animals. This massive animal roamed the oceans about 400 million years ago. The length of the body reached 10 meters, and the weight of Dunkleosteus was 4 tons. This giant was covered with thick armor that was impossible to penetrate. At that time, Dunkleosteus was at the very top food chain, so no one could eat it. The animal could open its mouth with incredible speed, where it was instantly sucked in small fish with water. Modern scientists believe that Dunkleosteus is an ancient ancestor of sharks.
Archeopteryx
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Archeopteryx
The very first bird to live on planet Earth. Archeopteryx existed about 150 million years ago. Despite the fact that the bird was no larger than a crow, it had sharp teeth, massive wings and very long claws. Externally, Archeopteryx is more similar to birds, but scientists believe that it distant relative dinosaurs. According to one version, birds did not fly, but walked on land.
Elasmosaurus
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Elasmosaurus
Another wonderful animal that lived on planet Earth about 80 million years ago. It was true giant creature, reaching 14 meters in length and weighing about 2 tons. Most long part Elasmosaurus had a neck that allowed the animal to easily peer out of the water. The head was quite small, however, with very sharp teeth. The basis of nutrition was small fish and. Many believe that Elasmosaurus is the famous Loch Ness Monster, which people have seen many times. Scientists suggest that elasmosaurs have similarities with modern reptiles.
Deinotherium
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Deinotherium
Among all the creatures living on the planet, Deinotherium ranks third in size. The animal reaches a height of 5 meters and weighs about 15 tons. Deinotherium is very similar to modern elephants, but unlike elephants, they had short trunks, and tusks grew not from the upper jaw, but from the lower one. Like elephants, these creatures were herbivores, only they obtained food with both their trunk and limbs at the same time. Scientists have discovered remains of Deinotherium in different corners peace.
Opabinia
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Opabinia
This animal had an unusual appearance, unsuitable for the prehistoric period. Opanibia is a soft-bodied creature that lives in salt waters. The animals had 15 eyes, and their mouth was connected to a small trunk. The main occupation of opinibia was to search for food, which they did very funny. The animals crawled along the bottom, looking for small creatures with their mobile proboscis. Most scientists are inclined to believe that Opanibia is a distant relative of worms and arthropods.
Helicoprion
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Helicoprion
The main feature of Helicoprion is its dental spiral. The fish had unusual teeth, which resembled a modern saw, in addition there were a lot of them, which is why the old teeth reached the middle of the mouth, forming an interesting turn. Despite the fact that the found remains did not exceed 3 meters in length, scientists believe that these fish could grow up to 12 meters. Helicoprion lived in the Carboniferous period.
Quetzalcoatlus
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Quetzalcoatl
This creature is the largest of all who could rise into the sky. Quetzalcoatlus lived in the Cretaceous period. The animal reached 10 meters in length, while its weight barely reached 100 kilograms due to its hollow bones. In flight, the wingspan reached 12 meters. Scientists are convinced that the creature was so strong that it could easily take off even without acceleration. The diet of Quetzalcoatl was small fish and other small animals. It is known that the animal had no teeth.
Dimorphodon
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Dimorphodon
This pterosaur lived on the planet about 200 million years ago. Thanks to 33 vertebrae, the terrible lizard could easily move both on the ground and fly in the sky. Scientists know that the wingspan in flight reached 1.5 meters, but they still do not know how exactly the pterosaur moved on land. Perhaps Dimorphodon is the most ancient ancestor of modern birds.
Jackelopterus
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Jackelopterus
Of all known arthropods, Jackelopterus is the largest. The found 46 centimeter claw suggests that in prehistoric time the scorpion reached 2.5 meters. It is estimated that Jackelopterus lived on Earth about 400 million years ago. It was at that time that such healthy creatures appeared, since there was a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere. Jackelopterus is a distant relative of scorpions, crayfish and spiders.
Hallucigenia
Prehistoric animals photos of the strangest - Hallucigenia
The fossils of the animal found only indicate that it was very unusual. The worm-like creature reached 3 centimeters in length, and its body was covered with three rows of processes. The ends of the body had different thickness, so scientists have assumed that the thicker end is the head, although there are no eyes there. Many scientists agree that strange creatures in fact, they only appeared in dreams, which is why they got their name.