The history of the Earth spans about 4.5 billion years, during which countless creatures have appeared and gone extinct thanks to evolution. The only evidence we have that they existed is their remains, such as bones, teeth, and footprints, among other things. Many of them are shared on the ‘Nature Was Metal’ community, where curious minds gather to get a look at how different our planet was long before humans came into existence.
We can bet our dear Pandas are curious too, so we compiled a list of the most fascinating photos and illustrations of creatures that became extinct millions of years ago. Scroll down to check them out for yourself, and don’t forget to upvote the ones you can’t believe are real.
While you're at it, make sure to check out a conversation with Dr. Jingmai O'Connor, associate curator of fossil reptiles, Bethany Burke, vertebrate paleontologist and CEO of BKBONES, and Mattison Shreero, paleontologist, geologist, and science communicator at Geosplore, who kindly agreed to tell us all about extinct creatures.
#23 Purussaurus Is One Of The Largest Known Of The Giant Crocodilians, Perhaps Even Surpassing Sarcosuchus In Size. It Reigned Supreme In Central South America In The Miocene Period, 8 Million Years Ago
Report
0points
#24 Introducing The Tyrannosaur Of The Arctic, Nanuqsaurus. It Prowled Around The Area Of Alaska And Lived During Maastrichtian Period
Report
0points
#27 Comparison Of Theoretical Neanderthal Skeleton With Anatomically Modern Human. Ribcage And Pelvis , Is Twice As Big!
Report
0points
#28 Very Early Description Of A Woolly Mammoth From 1805 Based On A Frozen Carcass Found In Siberian Permafrost
Report
0points
#31 Shantungosaurus, The Largest Ornithischian And Largest Known Non-Sauropod Dinosaur, Compared To A Contemporary African Elephant
Report
0points
#33 The Head Of A Liopleurodon To Scale With The Artist Who Made It, Bob Nicholls
Report
0points
#34 Megalodons Broke A Lot Of Their Own Teeth. May Teeth Have Been Broken By The Natural Environment Over The Last Few Million Years, But Many Were Broken By The Sharks Themselves Making It Difficult To Find One That Is Complete
Report
0points
#36 Capuchin Monkeys Using A Glyptodon’s Shell And Stones To Crack Nuts But The Giant Mammal Will Make Its Lack Of Appreciation Known (By Xtinctdesign)
Report
0points
#38 The Only Taxidermied Specimen Of Saddle-Backed Rodrigues Giant Tortoise (Cylindraspis Vosmaeri), Kept At The French National Museum Of Natural History
Report
0points
#40 Appreciation Post For The Denver Museum's Daeodon Reconstruction. Still One Of The Best, With Only A Few Inaccuracies
Report
0points