With our planet around for nearly five billion years, countless species have walked—or crawled—on its surface. Some of them have managed to fight for their existence and staved off extinction.
Extinct Nightmares
Although many organisms are alive today, some animals haven’t been so lucky. When it comes to some animals, We should sigh with relief that they aren’t around and can only live in our nightmares. Here are some extinct animals that are probably better left in the past.
Titanoboa
Many are already wary of snakes, but what about their prehistoric ancestors? Sixty million years ago, a snake called Titanoboa crawled around the planet. Living in tropical rainforests, this enormous snake is thought to be fifty feet long and had over 250 vertebrae.
Deinosuchus
Deinosuchus is an extinct species of crocodile, but something made it stand out from its modern-day cousins. Deinosuchus was big, a lot bigger than the crocodiles we know at an estimated 35 feet long. Evidence points to it getting into fights with the T-rex to make it even more imposing!
Arcdotus
The arcdotus was a bear that roamed North America until possibly only about 12,000 years ago. The giant bear could stand at an enormous 11 feet high on its hind legs and run at 40 miles an hour. They weighed an estimated 1500 pounds.
Megalodon
This list wouldn’t be complete without the iconic megalodon. The megalodon was similar to a great white shark but was much bigger. They went extinct 3.6 million years ago and paleontologists have managed to determine their massive size due to finding fossilized teeth. The shark could be as long as 33 feet.
Gigantopithecus
When people in Asia first started finding gigantopithecus teeth, they thought giants used to roam the earth. Gigantopithecus was similar to a modern-day orangutan, standing nearly ten feet tall and weighing over 600 pounds.
Phorusrhacidae
Phorusrhacidae, also called the terror bird, was a large flightless bird that was also a predator. With fossil evidence, terror birds could be as small as 3 feet and others as tall as 9 feet. They chased down their prey and were apex predators in South America.
Arthropleura
Even the smallest bugs make people’s skin crawl today, but what about a giant millipede? Arthropleura was a giant arthropod that could be as long as 9 feet. They were so large because Earth’s air was more oxygen-rich than today’s. They died out about 290 million years ago.
Smilodon fatalis
The smilodon is a notorious extinct animal seen in all media today. Colloquially called the saber-toothed tiger, the smilodon was the largest example of a saber-toothed cat and would be the length of a lion but much bulkier. The animal was bold enough to go after even the biggest prey – mammoths.
Megalania
Megalania was an enormous lizard and cousin to our modern Komodo dragon. Like Komodo dragons, Megalania evolved to rip and tear flesh, hunt, and scavenge for food. They could be 18 feet long and weighed up to 1300 pounds.
Megapiranha
The megapiranha was a cousin to the piranhas we have today, but on a much larger scale. The extinct characin fish that lived around Argentina weighed 22 pounds and was 27 inches long. It is thought to have gone extinct because the population became isolated in shallow basins, where its numbers slowly diminished before going extinct.
Therizinosaurus
Therizinosaurus was a dinosaur that lived around 70 million years ago. What sets them apart from other velociraptors is the large, knife-like they have on each hand. Thankfully, they would have used them more for pulling vegetation than hunting prey.
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18 terrifying animals you are SO glad are extinct
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