Do you love archeology or not? What animal fossils have you seen? Soon, we will reveal to you the top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world.
Tyrannosaurus
Topping the list of the top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is none other than the fossil of a Tyrannosaur. Tyrannosaurus rex can be said to be the species that dominated our Earth 67 million years ago. They live concentrated in the North American continent. According to a lot of scientific evidence, this is a giant species: more than 12m long, 4m high and weighs 6.8 tons. This is also the last dinosaur to become extinct on Earth. The neck of this dinosaur is S-shaped but shorter than other species. The short length helps to make their head more powerful, as well as increasing the force of the bite. The tail of this species is also longer and heavier, based on fossil record shows that this jasmine has more than 40 tail vertebrae.
Columbia Giant Snake
Keeping the 2nd place in the list of top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is none other than giant snake fossils found in Colombia. The size of this snake is determined to: nearly 15m long, weighing more than 1,200 kg. This is the largest snake ever discovered to date and is considered the dominant carnivore on Earth after the extinction of the tyrannosaurs. The reason it has such a huge size is because hot and humid tropical climate. The only known species has the name Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the largest snake ever discovered. Based on the backbone fossils of this species that scientists have found, they estimate its size: about 13 meters long, weighing about 1,135 kg and about 1 meter wide.
Giant Mouse
Holding the 3rd place in the list of top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is the fossil of a giant mouse. How big can the rat you see? According to fossils found by scientists, they have found fossils of giant rats that once lived on Earth with the size: 53 cm long and weighs nearly 1 ton. Not only large in size, this rat also has extremely sharp teeth. They often prefer to live in tropical and subtropical regions. However, scientists still detect them in other climates, including Coypu and Gambian. However, due to human construction projects, their habitat is increasingly threatened. Some have become invasive, even appearing in urban areas. In the novels, these giant kangaroos are often depicted as monsters.
Hell Toad
Holding the 4th place in the list of top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is the fossil of Hell Toad found in Madagascar. According to the age of the fossils it is possible to determine that this species existed 70 million years ago. The size of this species was determined to be: 14cm tall, about 4.5kg in weight. In the distant era of the dinosaurs, it seems that all animals have become much larger than our time and frogs are no exception. Paleontologists have discovered a giant frog living on the Cretaceous island of Madagascar. This giant frog has an extremely large mouth, when opened to the maximum, they can swallow dinosaurs, so paleontologists have named it Beelzebufo – giant demon frog, hell frog or toad Devil…
At the present time, on Earth we still have a giant toad called Conraua goliath living in Africa. This giant frog lives in the tropical rainforests of southern Cameroon and northern equatorial Guinea, and can grow to over 30 cm tall and weigh 3 kg.
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Giant Penguin
Holding the 5th place in the list of top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is the fossil of a giant penguin. Penguins today are known to be adorable little birds. However, scientists have found fossils that prove that the ancient penguin was very large: 1.6m in height, 80 kg in weight. Scientists identified the scientific name of this penguin as “crossvallia waiparensis”. This bird specialized in hunting on the coast of New Zealand during the Paleocene period about 66 – 56 million years ago. Scientists speculate that the complete disappearance of giant penguins is due to the appearance of large carnivorous marine animals such as seals and toothed whales. For a long time, New Zealand is famous as the place to discover fossils of extinct giant birds, including ostrich-like birds up to 3.6m tall and eagles with a wingspan of up to 3m.
Giant Sea Scorpion
Holding 6th place in the list of top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is the fossil of a giant sea scorpion. Based on fossils found, this scorpion was up to 2.5m long and lived 390 million years ago. It was the most powerful and predatory species of its time. These scorpions can eat each other to survive and live up to 25 years. They grow very strongly with 13 families including 1,750 different species. Their perfect adaptability allows them to survive almost everywhere in the world (except Antarctica), from hot arid deserts to high humidity tropical jungles.
Although, there are many eyes (from 6 to 12 eyes) but their eyesight is not good at all, they are just enough to be able to distinguish light from day and night. In return, their sense of smell is extremely sharp, as well as the ability to sense vibrations around to detect prey or hide from enemies. This creature also has a terrifying ability to starve, if there is a shortage of food sources, they can live for another year by slowing down their metabolism.
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Giant Shark
Holding 7th place in the list of top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is the fossil of the Giant Shark. Sharks have always been considered the god of the ocean. With the size of modern sharks is enough for us humans to fear when encountered. However, with the fossils found, scientists have confirmed that the largest shark species that has ever existed until now has a size: 16m long, 50 times heavier than the largest white shark today. The favorite food of prehistoric giant whales and turtles. According to records from the Renaissance period, giant triangular fossilized teeth are often believed to be petrified tongues, or teeth, of dragons and snakes. In 1667, the Danish naturalist Nicolaus Steno, re-confirmed that these were shark teeth, and drew an illustration of a shark’s head with lots of teeth. He describes this finding in The Head of a Shark Dissected.
Giant Kangaroo
Holding 8th place in the list of top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is the fossil of the Giant Kangaroo. With the fossil found, the largest kangaroo that ever existed on Earth weighed nearly 500 kg, the body was nearly 92cm long, the front tooth was nearly 3cm long. They can reproduce very quickly (about 50 pups/year) and pups can give birth as soon as they are 5 months old. After giving birth, Gambia rats only have to wait 9 months to continue giving birth. They raise six young children at the same time. This species of rat is omnivorous, both on plants and animals. They can also live 7-8 years. They are distantly related to rats in the UK and are said to be the largest and most ferocious rat in the world.
Terror Bird Phorusrhacidae
Holds the 9th position in the list of top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is Phorusrhacidae. Although this bird has a huge size: about 3m tall, it cannot fly. This bird is found in North America and existed 62 million years ago. The strain has a beak like an eagle, a big head that looks like a horse’s head, and uses its sharp and sure beak to knock down its prey in an instant. The group of birds Phorusrhacidae is about 3m high, has a crooked bill like an eagle with a head as big as a horse’s head. They use their huge beaks to grab their prey or strike precisely at the vital parts of their prey, making the opponent quickly caught.
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Giant short-faced Bear
Holding the last position in the list of top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world is the giant short-faced bear. This bear went extinct about 3 million – 11,000 years ago. They are the largest terrestrial carnivorous mammals on earth, living mainly in the North American continent, body weight up to 900kg, standing up to 4.6m tall, they can move at a speed of 50 – 70 km/h facilitates in hunting prey.
The above information is really interesting, isn’t it? In the top 10+ largest ancient animal fossils in the world above, if those animals still exist, which one do you think would be the scariest animal? Share your experience with us. Please continue to read the following articles for more interesting information.