When we hear the word ancient animals, the first thing that comes to our mind must be a super large animal with sharp fangs and a long tail, just like the ones we see in the Jurassic Park movies or in history books. We get a picture of the ancient animal after scientists and archaeologists researched the fossils found in various parts of the world.
Although these giant beasts are always shown in films as scary and ferocious animal figures, these animals always pique everyone's curiosity. As if research and stories about ancient animals will never end. In this article, we will show you some of the amazing types of ancient animals.
The results are processed from various sources, obtained several types of ancient animals that are considered the most amazing.
1. Dino Turkey
Perhaps this is the ancestor of the turkey animal as we know it today, but of course the size of this animal is much larger than the turkey. This animal is about two meters tall, has bright plumage, large claws, and a tail like a peacock.
Despite having wings, these animals cannot fly like turkeys. The running speed of this animal is extraordinary, it can reach 40 km per hour.
The Latin name for this animal, which originated 75 million years ago, is Hagyphus giganteus, which scientists have categorized as a raptor group of dinosaurs because it eats meat or is carnivorous.
Its fossils have so far been found in the Utah area, America. Allegedly the origin of this animal is Canada which is able to travel far to New Mexico.
2. Plesiosaurs
This animal is a type of marine reptile whose fossils have been found in England. Characteristics of this animal is a long and slender neck, wide body almost like a turtle, the tail is not too long, and seems to have a pair of paddles on the right and left that are long.
This animal was once considered a Loch Ness lake monster, although many scientists dispute it because they believe this animal has long been extinct, as well as its characteristics are different from the sightings of animals in Loch Ness lake that some people have seen.
3. Aerosteon Dinosaur
The area now known as Argentina is thought to have originally been the land of origin of this ancient animal. This animal is categorized in the allosaurus theropod dinosaur family, which is estimated to have lived about 84 million years ago. The height of this animal reaches nine meters with a breath like a bird, and eats meat or carnivores. Its name, Aerosteon, is a Greek word meaning air and bone.
4. Megapiranha
Around 8-10 million years ago it was estimated that this meat-eating sharp-toothed fish lived. Unlike piranhas as we know them today, Megapiranhas were up to one meter long and were said to have lived in the Amazon river.
Its fossils have been found in Argentina, although not in perfect condition. But a row of sharp teeth can still be seen. This animal family is Characin serrasalmidae.
5. Camarasaurus
This ancient animal was enormous. Its height can reach 23 meters with a length of 15 meters. It can weigh up to 47 tons. What is unique about this animal is that it has hollow bones, so it is often called a chamber lizard.
This animal lived a very long time, which is about 155 to 145 million years ago. This animal has a funny face because of its blunt muzzle and large curved neck. These animals are also harmless because they are plant eaters or herbivores.
6. Mammoth
This one animal is said to be the ancestor of the elephant. You could say Mammoth is an elephant with thick fur, has curved tusks, about 4 meters high, and can weigh up to 12 tons.
Scientists suspect this animal experienced extinction 10,000 years ago. However, this animal is thought to have existed 4,500 years ago. Mammoth living areas include Europe, Asia, and South America.
7. Dunkleosteus Terrelli
If this giant fish still exists today, its existence must be a threat to sharks today. Because in one meal, he can eat two sharks in one catch. The length of this fish is fantastic, which is about 33 meters and weighs up to 8 tons.
About 400 million years ago, this fish was called the true king of the sea. In the food chain of carnivores, these giant fish occupy the top position, or are hypercarnivorous. The fossils of this animal were found by scientists in North America, Belgium, Morocco, Poland.
8. Leviathan Melvillei
This is the ancestor of today's sea king, the whale. This ancient whale became extinct 25 million years ago. Leviathan Melvillei was a highly respected predator at that time, its movements were agile and fierce in hunting.
Its teeth are sharp, and it has a very good sense of sight for prey. The skull of this fish alone is about 3 meters long, with a body length of up to 18 meters.
In addition to preying on fish that are smaller than him, this fish is also suspected of preying on its own people or cannibals.
9. Giant Snake
If you've seen the movie Anaconda, you must be amazed how big and long the snake is. But it turns out that about 60 million years ago, there once lived on earth a type of snake that was much larger than the Anaconda.
This prehistoric snake can reach more than 13 meters in length and weighs about 1 ton. It is said that this snake lives on the plains of South America.
10. Aquatic Turtles
In present-day China, about 220 million years ago, there are amazing types of ancient aquatic animals that are the ancestors of modern turtles. This aquatic turtle has an unusual appearance, there is a shell on the abdomen, while the back does not have a protective shell.
The modern turtle is completely protected by a shell and can hide its head into the shell at any time if it is under threat. So how do you think this ancient turtle hides itself? This animal has the Latin name Odontochelys semitestacea.
11. Pseudo Toothed Birds
These large ancient birds had the same body size as the small planes we know today. The origin of this bird that lived about 50 million years ago is England, but its large and strong wings enable it to fly as far as Morocco and Kazakhstan.
The uniqueness of this bird is the neck and head that resembles a modern goose. Allegedly this bird has a hobby of flying, roaming over the vast ocean looking for prey and having fun with the flock.
12. Limusaurus
This type of ancient animal is probably a transitional animal which is an evolution from dinosaurs to winged animals or birds as we know them today. There are three fingers on the hands of this animal, the neck is long, the head is small, and the body is covered with hair.
It is suspected that this animal lived in the East Asia region when the Asian continent was still one large continent before being separated into other continents.
13. Troodon
Want to know intelligent ancient animals? Get acquainted with Troodon. This ancient animal is said to be very intelligent with a brain size larger than the human brain. This animal has a very good sense of sight and smell, so it can prey on its prey cleverly.
Although the body size is not too big, only about 2.4-3.5 meters long, and about 1.7 meters high, this animal deserves to be called the little chili pepper because it is considered one of the most dangerous animals. This animal is estimated to have lived between 75-76 million years ago.