Favorite Ancient Critters

[Shimmer Mist]

Since there are threads for dinosaurs and modern animals I figured perhaps we could have a topic dedicated to any prehistoric species that's not a Dinosaur or any extant species. Dinos are cool and all but they certainly do hog the limelight. Thousands upon thousands of other animals are often forgotten about and are just as cool if not cooler than dinosaurs. Any old critter can be mentioned whether its before land animals appeared, if they lived along side those fancy pants bird-hipped lizards or came afterwards.


Some of my favorites are
Titanoboa:
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Not much to say about why I love Titanoboa. I'm a huge snake fanatic so Titanoboa is absolutely fascinating. Largest species of snake That's ever been discovered. Easily the length of a bus but it wasn't just lengthy, it was girthy, too. Some of titanoboa's smallest vertebrae dwarf even the Green Anaconda's and the longest Reticulated Python alive today would probably look like a baby compared to a full-grown Titanoboa.

Platybelodon. I love modern elephants but a lot of their prehistoric relatives were quite weird. Just look at 'em. What's not to love?
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I also adore Terror Birds, Titanis in particular. Call them chickens if you like but those "chickens" could kick some serious tail. Largest of the bunch was Titanis. Titanis was around 8 feet tall had huge heads, thick legs and teeny little wings, and a sharp, hooked beak most likely meant for taking down their prey.Funny-looking but they were killers none-the-less. >>;
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I could go on forever about which prehistoric animals I love but I think I'll let you guys post.

[Aflame]

saber tooth tiger !!! grrrrrrrrrr !! xaflame

[divalei]

I voted "Maybe? It depends on what it is". Because it really depends on what it is.

Terror birds would be a good reason not to go outside.

[Sprinklecupcake]

Ooooh I LOVE all these prehistoric animal threads!!! Im such a HUGE fan of ancient scaley babies and marine life!!! Ive mentioned this in another thread already, but probably ANYTHING Cretaceous. I especially have a soft spot for carnivores!!! Idk why, but they are ADORABLE to me. My favorites are in order:
1.Tylosaurus (type of mosasaur)
2. Spinosaurids, Suchomimus is my top favorite!
3.Ptychodus sharks (P. whippeli is my favorite)
3.Belemnites/Ammonites/Nautiloids
4.Calymene trilobites (not cretaceous but oh well they are soooo cute LOL)

I wish ALL the Cretaceous chambered cephlapods survived the KT exctinction and were around today.... *sigh* Well, I do feel lucky their remains are common to find in my area. Mossies I am glad arent alive anymore, but they are famazing creatures.

[kaoskat]

Phoberomys pattersoni

[melodys_angel]

Ah, it depends--but if they aren't here anymore, theres a good reason why  

Many of the animals were larger back then due to the oxygen level at the time as well--they wouldn't survive today, even if there were a few around.

[Haruna]

When I was at the Smithsonian I took a picture of the display for this ancient horse-like animal. I can't remember if these are Mesohippus or Hyohippus or possibly something different! They were pretty small compared to modern horses. (I wanna say dog-sized?) I think they're cute.

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I like a lot of dinosaurs and other ancient animals, but it would be pretty crazy if some of them were still around, like the giant sloths and that snake in your original post! Yikes 

[Koudoawaia]

I'm with the original poster on the titanoboa.Those are so fascinating. I'm sure I wouldn't want to come face to face with one D: I also like Tasmanian tigers. It's a real shame those aren't still around.

[brightberry]

I think they're amazing and beautiful.  But do I wish they were still around?  I have to say no...  they would probably have eaten us all by now.

[Corona]

When I was at the Smithsonian I took a picture of the display for this ancient horse-like animal. I can't remember if these are Mesohippus or Hyohippus or possibly something different! They were pretty small compared to modern horses. (I wanna say dog-sized?) I think they're cute.

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Those would be the eohippus now called hyracotherium! My ponysona in my icon is one. They're the earliest form of the horse that we know of.

[Haruna]

When I was at the Smithsonian I took a picture of the display for this ancient horse-like animal. I can't remember if these are Mesohippus or Hyohippus or possibly something different! They were pretty small compared to modern horses. (I wanna say dog-sized?) I think they're cute.

Those would be the eohippus now called hyracotherium! My ponysona in my icon is one. They're the earliest form of the horse that we know of.

Eohippus, then! Aren't they cute? I didn't notice until you mentioned it, but your ponysona is an eohippus, isn't it! Very cute.

[flyawayraven]

Oh man, now that you're asking I can;t remember too many but yes I love prehistoric animals!

I would love to see an Irish elk walking around. They had antlers that easily spanned nine feet and were almost seven feet at the shoulder.

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Another one I'd love to see is the aurochs. They were still around until the 1600's but they date as far as back as the neolithic age. They can be seen in the Lascaux cave paintings.

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And the megatherium! A sloth the size of an elephant! How cool is that?!

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[archidraca]

I voted Maybe because we don't need any more gigantic snakes...  But I want the Terror Birds. I wish we could train them like Chocobos! I would feed mine the best of farm raised, non-GMO, cage free, no hormones, grain fed chickens I could find. Golden Chocobo would be mine!

[xeevee]

For sure.  Australia had some amazing ones in particular.  Who wouldn't want to go out and see a giant wombat wandering about?  It's sad we hardly have any megafauna left.

[Darker]

Exctinction sucks. Most living creatures in the history of the Universe never deserved to die.
Dinosaurs especially.

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