Interesting details about prehistoric animals. Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals

Millions of years ago the world was different. It was inhabited by prehistoric animals, beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Dinosaurs, sea predators of monstrous size, giant birds, mammoths and saber-toothed tigers - they have long disappeared, but interest in them is not quenched.

The first inhabitants of the planet

When did the first living creatures appear on Earth? More than three and a half billion years ago there were unicellular organisms.

It took two billion years before multicellular living organisms appeared. Approximately 635 million years ago, the Earth was inhabited by invertebrates, and at the beginning of the Cambrian period - vertebrates.

The most ancient remains of living organisms, found to date, belong to the late Neoproterozoic.

In the Cambrian period, life existed only in the seas. Bright representatives of prehistoric animals of that time were trilobites.

Because of the often occurring underwater landslides, many living organisms were buried in the mud and preserved until our time. Due to this, scientists have a fairly complete picture of the structure and lifestyle of trilobites and other ancient marine life.

In the Devonian period prehistoric animals actively develop on land and in the sea. The first inhabitants of humid places on the Earth's surface are arthropods and centipedes. In the middle of the Devonian, amphibians joined them.

Ancient insects

Appearing in the early Devonian period, insects developed successfully. Many species eventually disappeared. Some of them were gigantic in size.

Meganevra - belonged to the genus of dragonfly-like insects. The range of its wings was up to 75 centimeters. She was a predator.

Ancient insects have been thoroughly studied. And in this the scientist helped ordinary wood resin. Hundreds of millions of years ago, it drained along the trunks of trees and became a deadly trap for careless insects.

They are perfectly preserved in their original transparent sarcophagi to the present day. Thanks to amber, which turned petrified resin, today anyone can admire the ancient inhabitants of our planet.

Prehistoric marine animals are dangerous giants

In the Triassic period, the first marine reptiles appeared. They could not, like fish, live completely under water. They needed oxygen, and they periodically rose to the surface. Outwardly they resembled terrestrial dinosaurs, but differed in limbs - the marine inhabitants had fins or webbed feet.

The first appeared notosaurs, reaching in size from 3 to 6 meters, and placodus, which had three kinds of teeth. The placodus were small (about 2 meters) and lived near the shore. Their main food was shellfish. Notosaurs ate fish.

The Jurassic period is the era of the giants. At this time lived plesiosaurs. Their largest species reached a length of 15 meters. These include the elasmosaur, which had an amazingly long neck (8 meters). The head, in comparison with a massive body, was small. Elasmosaurus had a wide mouth, armed with sharp teeth.

Ichthyosaurs - large reptiles, reaching an average of 2-4 meters in length, - looked like modern dolphins. Their feature is huge eyes, which speaks about the night way of life. They, unlike dinosaurs, had a skin without scales. It is assumed that ichthyosaurs were excellent deep-sea divers.

More than forty million years ago there lived a basilosaurus - an ancient whale of enormous size. The length of the male specimen could reach 21 meters. He was the largest predator of his time and could attack other whales. Basilosaurus had a very long skeleton and moved with the help of bending of the spine, like a snake. He had rudimentary hind legs 60 cm long.

Marine prehistoric animals were very diverse. Among them are the ancestors of modern sharks and crocodiles. The most famous sea predator of the ancient world is the giant shark megalodon, reaching 16-20 meters in length. We drove this giant about 50 tons. Since the skeleton of this shark consisted of cartilage, nothing survived except the enamel-covered teeth of the animal. It is assumed that the distance between the open jaws of megalodon reached two meters. It would easily fit two people.

No less dangerous predators were prehistoric crocodiles.

Purusaurus is an extinct relative of modern caimans that lived about eight million years ago. Length - up to 15 meters.

Deynozuh is a crocodile from the genus of alligators, lived at the end of the Cretaceous period. Outwardly, it was not much different from the modern representatives of the species. The body length reached 15 meters.

The most horrible: the ancient lizards

Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals of giant size continue to amaze modern man. It is hard to imagine that such giants once reigned on the planet.

The Mesozoic era is the time of the dinosaurs. Appearing at the end of the Triassic, they became the main form of life in the Jurassic period and suddenly disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous.

The species diversity of these ancient lizards is striking. There were among them land and leading aquatic life of individuals, flying species, herbivores and predators. They differed in size. Most dinosaurs were huge, but there were also very small lizards. Among the predators, the spinozar was particularly prominent in its size. The length of his body was from 14 to 18 meters, height - eight meters. With outstretched jaws, he resembled modern crocodiles. Therefore, it is assumed that he led an amphibian life. A feature of the spinoza was the presence of a spine resembling a sail. Thanks to him, he seemed taller. Paleontologists believe that the sail was used by the animal for thermoregulation.

Ancient birds

Prehistoric animals (photo can be seen in the article) were still represented by flying lizards and birds.

Pterosaurs appeared in the Mesozoic. Presumably, the largest of them was the ornithoheyrus, which had wings, the range of which was up to 15 meters. He lived in the Cretaceous, was a predator and preferred to hunt for large fish. Pteranodone - another major flying predatory pangolin of the Cretaceous period.

Among the prehistoric birds, its size was struck by gastornis. Two-meter growth of individuals possessed by a beak, which easily broke bones. It is not exactly established whether this extinct bird was a predator or consumed vegetable food.

Fororakos is a bird of prey that lived in the Miocene. The growth reached 2.5 meters. A curved sharp beak and powerful claws made it dangerous.

Extinct animals of the Cenozoic era

It began 66 million years ago. During this time, thousands of species of living beings appeared on the Earth and disappeared. What extinct prehistoric animals of that time were the most interesting?

Megaterium - the largest mammal of that era, a giant sloth. It is assumed that he was herbivorous, but it is possible that the megaterium could kill other animals or eat carrion.

Woolly rhinoceros - was covered with thick reddish-brown hair.

Mammoth is the most famous extinct species of elephants. Animals lived two million years ago and were twice as large as modern species of their species. Found a lot of remains of mammoths, very well preserved due to permafrost. By historical standards, these majestic giants became extinct just recently - about 10 thousand years ago.

Of predatory prehistoric animals, the most interesting is smilodon, or the saber-toothed tiger. The size did not exceed the Amur tiger, but he had incredibly long fangs, reaching 28 centimeters. Another feature of Smilodon was a short tail.

Titanoboa is an extinct giant snake. A close relative of the modern boa constrictor. The length of the animal could reach 13 meters.

Documentary films about prehistoric animals

Among them you can note such as "Sea dinosaurs: Journey to the prehistoric world", "Land of mammoths", "Last days of dinosaurs", "Prehistoric chronicles", "Walks with dinosaurs". There are a lot of good documentaries about the life of ancient animals.

"Ballad of Big Al" - an amazing story of one Allosaurus

This film is part of the famous series "Walking with dinosaurs." He talks about how the well-preserved skeleton Allosaur was found in the US, which was given to scientists by the name of Big Al. The bones showed how many fractures and injuries the dinosaur suffered, and this allowed us to recreate the history of his life.

Conclusion

Prehistoric animals (dinosaurs, mammoths, cave bears, sea giants), who lived in the distant past, still amaze the human imagination today. They are a vivid proof of how amazing the past of the Earth was.