When's the last time we had a prehistoric animals thread?

[BreweryYardRat]

I think it's been long enough for a new one.

A mock-up of Argentavis magnificens, a Miocene teratorn from South America:


Helicoprion, a prehistoric shark:


Sarcosuchus imperator (approx. 40 ft.) and Suchomimus (approx. 30-35 ft.)


Smilodon fatalis


Short-faced bear (approx 8 feet at the shoulder)


Liopleurodon (whale-sized):

[cwydro]

1. No wonder that shark is extinct.

Lord what a mouth.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. I was thinking the same thing!

They probably gnawed themselves into oblivion.

[cwydro]

8. Gives a whole nother meaning

to biting your tongue. Yikes!

[Hugin]

2. Hmm... Have they ever found any remains of an Argentavis magnificens?

Or was it an urban legend?

Edit: Changed 'a' to 'an'...

[jilln]

3. Good question.

I'd never heard of birds that big.

[Hugin]

4. My quick research has revealed some interesting info...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentavis

There are 4 or 5 sources listed.

Mostly talking about the same bone (a large wing bone) found.

Doesn't rule them out tho... Their proposed habitat Mountains near large plains isn't
exactly a prime area for fossil preservation.

That is a BIG bird.

[jilln]

10. Wow

I find those much scarier than the land dinosaurs. Thanks for the link.

[puerco-bellies]

5. You included my favorite

Arctodos simus; The Giant Short-Faced Bear. That bear looks like it could run down a cheetah.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. I like the prehistoric horses...

Like Eohippus.

[BreweryYardRat]

9. Kick for the morning crowd.

[BreweryYardRat]

11. Last kick, I promise.

[mr blur]

12. Check this one out! : Dunkleosteus

Meet Dunkleosteus, a four tonne, 10-metre, armour-plated fish that was arguably the first king of the beasts. The monster fish cruised the oceans 400m years ago, preying on creatures much larger than itself, its blade-like fangs adept at tearing its quarry in two.

Using fossilised skull remains, scientists have built up a biomechanical model of the fish's powerful jaw and surrounding musculature and reveal today that it had the strongest bite of any fish ever to exist.

Philip Anderson's team at the University of Chicago found that the predator's jaws snapped shut with a force of more than five tonnes. The jaws were articulated by a unique mechanism based on four rotational joints working in harmony, they report in the Royal Society journal, Biology Letters, today.

Dunkleosteus was the first known large predator, pre-dating the dinosaurs. It belonged to a diverse group of armoured fish, placoderms, that dominated the oceans in the Devonian period between 360m and 415m years ago. Its formidable bite allowed it to feast on other armoured aquatic animals, including primitive sharks and smaller creatures protected by bone-like casings.

"Dunkleosteus was able to devour anything in its environment," said Dr Anderson. The bladed jaws, which enabled the beast to take on prey much larger than its mouth, is a feature sharks did not develop until 100m years later.

Mark Westneat, curator of fishes at the Field Museum in Chicago added: "The most interesting part of this work for me was discovering that this heavily-armoured fish was both fast during jaw opening and quite powerful during jaw closing. This is possible due to the unique engineering design of its skull and different muscles used for opening and closing. And it made this fish into one of the first true apex predators seen in the vertebrate fossil record."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6195188.stm

[trof]

13. Last Sunday.

I'm pretty sure.

[BreweryYardRat]

14. Seriously?

I know I didn't start it. Was busy studying.

[trof]

16. Oh, of course not. WHEN was I ever series?

;-)

[BreweryYardRat]

17. Didn't know.

I'm bad at figuring out when people are joking in real life. Over the Internet, it's even harder.

[blogslut]

15. My aunt worked at the La Brea Tar Pits

I've never picked her brain. I really need to do that cause auntie is getting pretty old.

Those tar pits were such a cruel natural occurence. Looks like water. Sticks like tar.