Going to need a bigger boat | 10 of the biggest animals to roam the planet | MNN - Mother Nature Network 10 of the biggest animals to roam the planet By: Katherine Butler on May 20, 2011, 12:25 p.m. 1 of 11 Going to need a bigger boat Humans think of themselves as the most important creatures ever to walk the planet. But when it comes to size, humans are mere peanuts next to ballpark-sized animals. Here's a snapshot — you never know what a paleontologist will dig up — of some of the biggest animals that have walked our planet, present and past. Pictured here is the megalodon, also known as Carcharocles megalodon. This creature was a 52-foot shark with jaws big enough to swallow a rhinoceros. It lived about 25 to 1.5 million years ago. Some believers think it may still lurk in our deepest oceans today, though there is no proof of this. (Text: Katherine Butler) 11 animals on the verge of extinction Going to need a bigger boat Humans think of themselves as the most important creatures ever to walk the planet.

But when it comes to size, humans are mere peanuts next to ballpark-sized animals. Here's a snapshot — you never know what a paleontologist will dig up — of some of the biggest animals that have walked our planet, present and past. Pictured here is the megalodon, also known as Carcharocles megalodon. This creature was a 52-foot shark with jaws big enough to swallow a rhinoceros. It lived about 25 to 1.5 million years ago. Some believers think it may still lurk in our deepest oceans today, though there is no proof of this. (Text: Katherine Butler) SPONSORED World's Biggest Shark EVER! Megalodon - YouTube World's Biggest Shark EVER! Megalodon Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jun 18, 2013 The biggest shark to have EVER lived, is the Megalodon, a giant prehistoric shark and a legendary killer.

Megalodon monster shark lives? 11 Biggest Sharks Caught It's name is Greek word meaning "Big Tooth". This giant mega shark is as one of the largest and most powerful attacking apex predators in the history of our planet. Having been extinct for millions of years, The Megalodon has influenced pop culture as photos and drawings of this legendary shark continue to appear all over web with some websites and blogs dedicated to it. Fossils indicate that the Megalodon Shark reached lengths of almost 70 feet, 20 meters long and was much wider and stockier than your typical great white shark believed to have weighed almost 100 tons. Blue Whales being slightly bigger can weigh over 100 tons. The teeth of the Megalodon are gigantic, some found to be over 7 inches long. These tooth fossils have been discovered all over the world and at one point were believed to be petrified tongues of dragons & giant snakes. The shark bite of the Megalodon is the sea creature's most impressive features as scientist estimate it's chomp to have created up to 18 tons of force, compared to that of a great white's bite which is less than 2 tons of force.

With that kind of biting pressure the Megalodon could crush a whales skull as easily as a human child would bite into a grape making it the most powerful bite of any creature in history. The Megalodon's closest living relative is the Great White Shark and although they have many similarities, their hunting patterns proved to be different. Great white sharks tend to attack the under belly or soft spot of their victims for a quick kill as the Megalodon's attacked with it's massive biting force to rip off the fins of other large fish before going in for the final kill. A sea monster as deadly and powerful as the Megalodon dominated the oceans for millions of years, however no one knows why exactly they became extinct. Was it global warming...A lack of food sources, or is it possible they still exists somewhere beyond our reach deep within the ocean depths.

Let's Connect Seven of the Biggest Beasts of All Time – National Geographic Society (blogs) More » We all know about the size of dinosaurs, of course, but how about a rodent the size of a bull, a sea scorpion bigger than a man, a frog as large as a beach ball, a penguin the size of a small adult human, a 1,000-pound ground-sloth-like marsupial, and a shark that may have grown longer than 50 feet and weighed up to 30 times more than the largest modern great white?All these titans existed, although not in the same place or period.Read on for pictures and more about seven of the biggest animals of all time.1. Biggest Snake Discovered; Was Longer Than a Bus Illustration of Titanoboa cerrejonensis by Jason Bourque/ Released by Nature The biggest snake that ever lived (that we know about) was a massive anaconda-like beast that slithered through steamy tropical rainforests about 60 million years ago feasting on primitive crocodiles, National Geographic News reported today.

“Fossils discovered in northeastern Colombia’s Cerrejon coal mine indicate the reptile was at least 42 feet (13 meters) long and weighed 2,500 pounds (1,135 kilograms),” contributor John Roach reported today . The snake would have killed its prey by slow suffocation — wrapping around it and squeezing, just like a modern python or boa. Only this snake was twice the size of today’s largest constrictors. Humans would stand no chance against one of these giant snakes, said Hans-Dieter Sues, paleontologist and associate director for research and collections at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

“Given the sheer size, the sheer cross section of that snake, it would be probably like one of those devices they use to crush old cars in a junkyard.” Precloacal vertebra of an adult Green Anaconda dwarfed by a vertebra of the giant boid snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis (photo credit Kenneth Krysko) and (lower photo) comparison of a vertebra of Titanoboa with the body of a live Python regius (photo credit Jason Head) Image courtesy Royal Society The giant skull of a one-ton prehistoric rat — shown here next to a modern-day rat — was revealed on January 16, 2008. “Measuring 53 centimeters (21 inches) long, the skull was found in Uruguay by an amateur fossil hunter among fallen cliff rocks in the San José region. Analysis of the bizarre find by paleontologists suggests it belonged to a bull-size species, which has since been named Josephoartigasia monesi,” National Geographic News reported .

The megarodent lived in lowland rain forests between two and four million years ago, perhaps using its massive teeth to fend off saber-toothed cats and giant, flightless, meat-eating birds, researchers said The newfound species was reported in a study led by Andrés Rinderknecht of the National Museum of Natural History and Anthropology in Montevideo, Uruguay. The previous holder of the title world’s largest rodent was a “buffalo-size” fossil creature from Venezuela , revealed by scientists in 2003. Illustration by Luci Betti-Nash, courtesy Stony Brook University Scientists working in Madagascar found what may be the largest frog that ever lived, National Geographic News reported a year ago. The bad-tempered Beelzebufo, or “devil frog” was a “rather intimidating animal the size of a beach ball, 16 inches (41 centimeters) high and weighing about 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms).” Paleontologist David Krause of Stony Brook University in New York and his colleagues began unearthing the the 70-million-year-old frog as a specimen in bits and pieces more than a decade earlier.

“Over the years a 75-piece puzzle emerged that was only recently put together by fossil-frog expert Susan Evans of University College London,” National Geographic’s story said. Evans, lead author of a paper detailing the find, said that, like its closest modern-day relatives — a group of big-mouthed frogs in South America called ceratophyrines — the devil frog also probably had a very aggressive temperament.”These ceratophyrines are really aggressive, ambush predators. They are round with big mouths, and they will sit there and grab onto anything that walks past.” “They’re sometimes called Pac-Man frogs,” she added, “and even the little ones will go for you. It’s a frog with attitude, even today. And at two or three times the size of the largest living ceratophyrines, Beelzebufo would have had quite a lot more attitude.” The animal sported a protective shield and powerful jaws that may have enabled it to kill hatchling dinosaurs, National Geographic News reported.

llustration by Kristin Lamm/courtesy PNAS Penguins about the size of humans roamed South America some 35 million years ago, and they didn’t need ice to survive, National Geographic News reported in June 2007. The study by North Carolina State University paleontologist Julia Clarke and her colleagues unveiled two new species of giant penguins from fossils unearthed in Peru’s Atacama Desert, pushing the date of penguin migration to equatorial regions back more than 30 million years, to one of the warmest periods of the last 65 million years. The artist’s illustration above shows the approximate sizes of two recently discovered Peruvian giant penguin species. “The fearsome five-foot (1.5-meter) Icadyptes salasi (right) lived about 36 million years ago, while Perudyptes devriesi (left) lived about 42 million years ago. The two extinct animals are shown to scale with Peru’s only living penguin species, Spheniscus humbolti (center),” our story said.

Illustration and photograph courtesy Biology Letters Scientists said this 18-inch (46-centimeter) fossil claw (bottom) belonged to the world’s largest known bug: an 8.2-foot (2.5-meter), 390-million-year-old sea scorpion called Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, National Geographic News reported in November 2007. “The size of a large crocodile, the 390-million-year-old sea scorpion was the top predator of its day, slicing up fish and cannibalizing its own kind in coastal swamp waters, fossil experts say,” our report said. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae measured some 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) long, scientists estimate, based on the length of its 18-inch (46-centimeter), spiked claw. “The find shows that arthropods — animals such as insects, spiders, and crabs, which have hard external skeletons, jointed limbs, and segmented bodies — once grew much larger than previously thought,” said paleobiologist Simon Braddy of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

“We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, supersized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies,” he added. “But we never realized, until now, just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were.” The fossilized claw of the sea scorpion was uncovered in a quarry near Prüm in Germany. Prehistoric megalodon — literally “megatooth” — sharks had the most powerful bite of any creature that has ever lived, National Geographic News reported in August 2008 “Its bite was strong enough to crush an automobile and far exceeded that of the great white shark and even Tyrannosaurus rex.” Known mostly from the large teeth it left behind, Carcharodon megalodon first appeared in Earth’s seas about 16 million years ago (in the Neogene period) and dined on giant prehistoric turtles and whales, we reported. “Megalodon’s killing strategy was to bite the tails and flippers off large whales, effectively taking out their propulsion systems,” said study leader Stephen Wroe of the University of New South Wales in Australia.

The prehistoric shark may have grown to lengths of over 50 feet (16 meters) and weighed up to 30 times more than the largest great white. “A great white is about the size of the clasper, or penis, of a male megalodon,” said Peter Klimley a shark expert at the University of California at Davis, who was not involved with the current research. A megalodon tooth fossil (left) is displayed next to the tooth of a modern great white shark in this undated photo. Photograph by Flip Nicklin/Minden Pictures/National Geographic 7. Giant Prehistoric “Kangaroos” Killed Off by Humans Hunting on the Australian island Tasmania exterminated several prehistoric animals, including the kangaroo-like beasts, marsupial “hippopotamuses,” and leopard-like cats, National Geographic News reported in August last year. The 1,000-pound (500-kilogram) prehistoric ground-sloth-like marsupial depicted here — Palorchestes azael — was among a handful of Tasmanian megafauna species driven to extinction by human activity more than 40,000 years ago, our story said.

The study challenged previous research suggesting an ice age killed off the giant creatures before humans arrived on the island. Other species included in the research were “three kangaroos that would have been in the 220-pound (100-kilogram) size range,” said team member Tim Flannery of Australia’s Macquarie University. “There was a marsupial leopard, which was probably 100 to 220 pounds [50 to 100 kilograms] in weight,” he said. Illustration by Peter Schouten; copyright Peter Schouten Also read about five bizarre mating rituals in >> Sexy Beasts: Valentine’s Day Gone Wild David Braun is director of outreach with the digital and social media team illuminating the National Geographic Society’s explorer, science, and education programs. He edits National Geographic Voices , hosting a global discussion on issues resonating with the Society’s mission and major initiatives. Contributors include grantees and Society partners, as well as universities, foundations, interest groups, and individuals dedicated to a sustainable world. More than 50,000 readers have participated in 10,000 conversations.

Follow David on Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Top 10 Terrifying Prehistoric Sea Monsters - Toptenz.net Toptenz.net Posted by David Dietle on June 18, 2016 in Animals , Science | 283,830 Views | 33 Responses The modern ocean is a scary place, filled with barracuda, sharks, super-squids, and possibly Cthulhu. However, no matter what we find in the depths these days, none of them seem to come close to the giant terrors that roamed the seas in Earth’s past; giant sea- lizards , monster sharks and even “hypercarnivorous” whales. For most of these things, humans would barely qualify as a snack. Here are 10 of the scariest prehistoric sea monsters to ever call the ocean home in prehistory. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Now and then we like to dig back into the TopTenz.net archives and re-share some of our best content as TopTenz Classics. Please enjoy this classic list from 2011.) 10.

Megalodon Megalodon is probably the best-known creature in the list; it’s hard to keep the idea of a shark the size of a school bus out of pop culture. Plus, science-minded entertainment sources like the Discovery Channel love creatures that could pass for a movie monster. Despite the popular idea that Megalodon coexisted with dinosaurs, they lived from 25 to 1.5 million years ago, meaning that at best they missed the last dinosaur by 40 million years. On the other hand, this meant they might have still been around for the first humans. Eek. Megalodons swam the warm oceans that were around until the last ice age in the early Pleistocene, which may have robbed them of their breeding grounds and food. Sometimes, it seems nature has our back. 9. Liopleurodon If Jurassic Park had an aquarium scene, and actually featured more animals from the Jurassic period, liopleurodon probably would have been in it. Although the actual length of these beasts is contested (some scientists have claimed lengths in excess of 50’), most agree that it was around 20 feet in length, with a full fifth of that being pointy-toothed head.

When the mouth of the “smaller” estimate is still plenty large to eat you whole, I think that is perfectly huge enough. Scientists have tested the paddle design of these creatures on small swimming robots and found that although they would not have been incredibly fast, they were incredibly agile. They also would have been able to make short, fast burst attacks like crocodiles, which in no way makes them any less intimidating. 8. Basilosaurus Despite the name and appearance, that is not a reptile, but actually a whale (and not even the most fearsome on the list!) Basilosaurs were predatory ancestors of modern whales, and could be 50 to 85 feet long! It is described as being the closest a whale has ever come to being a snake because of how long and sinuous it was. Imagine swimming in the ocean with an 80+ foot long alligator-snake-whale. Now imagine being afraid to even take a bath ever again. Physical evidence suggests that basilosaurus did not have the cognitive ability of modern whales , nor the ability to echolocate, and could only navigate in 2 dimensions (so no deep diving or breaching).

So at least this monster whale was dumber than a bag of prehistoric hammers and could not chase you if you dove or scrambled out on dry land, probably forever. 7. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae Nothing about the words “sea scorpion” are comforting to begin with, so this should not come off as too awful: this was one of the two largest arthropods to have ever lived, reaching a length of over 8 feet of armored, clawed horror. Most of us freak out at the thought of inch-long ants and foot wide spiders, so it’s easy to imagine screaming like a little girl if you ever stumbled across a living one of these. On the plus side, sea scorpions (Euripterids) have been extinct since before the dinosaurs, having been wiped out in the Permian Triassic extinction event (which killed 90% of all life on earth) and are only survived, to some degree, by horseshoe crabs, which are even less formidable than regular crabs. There is no evidence that any sea scorpions were actually venomous, but the structure of their tail is similar to a modern scorpion’s, so it might have been. 6.

Mauisaurus Mauisaurus was named after the Maori god Maui, who pulled the islands of New Zealand up from the sea floor with a fish hook, so already you know this thing is going to be enormous. The neck of Mauisaurus measured up to 49 feet long; the longest proportionate (and really, “actual”) neck of any living thing aside from some sauropod dinosaurs. Their overall length was about 66 feet, and that ridiculously long neck had plenty of vertebrae, implying that it was flexible. Imagine a snake strung through a sea turtle with no shell, and you have an approximate idea of what this thing looked like. It lived back in the Cretaceous era, meaning that creatures that jumped in the water avoid Velociraptors and Tyrannosaurs had to contend with these; the jury is out on which is worse. As far as science can tell, Mauisaurus was limited to the New Zealand area, showing that the area that would one day become Australia and its neighbors was always a land of terror. 5. Dunkleosteus Dunkleosteus was a 30 foot long carnivorous tank.

It was outlasted by sharks , but I am sure that is small consolation for the variety of creatures this beast ate. Instead of teeth, it had bony ridges, like a turtle. It has been calculated that they had a bite force of 8,000 pounds per square inch, putting it on par with crocodiles and T-Rex in terms of being history’s strongest biters. They also believe, based on the evidence in the skull regarding its musculature, that it could have opened its mouth in one fiftieth of a second, meaning it vacuumed food into its guillotine of a mouth. The plates that made up the “teeth” changed as the fish aged from a solid, rigid jaw to segments that allowed it to hold prey easier, and made it more effective in biting through the bony plate armor of other armored fish. In the arms race that was the prehistoric ocean, Dunleosteus was a predatory super tank. 4. Kronosaurus Kronosaurus is another short-necked pliosaur (like Liopleurodon up at number 9), and like Liopleurodon, its overall length has been contested.

It was a “mere” 30 feet long and the longest teeth in its massive mouth were up to 11 inches long. This is why it was named after Cronus, the king of the old Greek Titans. Guess where it lived? If you guessed “Australia”, then you have been paying attention to life (and are correct). The head was up to 9 feet long. They could eat an entire modern man whole, and still have room left over for half of another. It has also been suggested that since their flippers are so similar in design to those of modern sea turtles, that they may have crawled out onto land to lay eggs. You can be sure no one was digging up these thing’s nests to get at the eggs. 3. Helicoprion These sharks grew to be about 15 feet long, and had a lower jaw that was made of a “tooth whorl”. It looks like a cross between a circular saw and a shark, and when you mix apex predators with power tools, the world quakes in fear.

Helicoprion’s teeth were serrated, implying that they were definitely carnivores, but there is some debate as to whether their teeth were in the front of the mouth, as shown in the picture, or if they were farther back, which would suggest a softer diet, like jellyfish. However it was arranged, it clearly worked; Helicoprion survived the Permian Triassic extinction, which means they may have been smart enough to create bomb shelters. Or maybe they just lived in the deep sea. 2. Livyatan melvillei Remember me mentioning “hypercarnivorous” whales? Well here it is. Imagine a cross between an orca and a sperm whale. Livyatan melvillei was a whale that ate other whales. It had the largest teeth of any animal to ever use their teeth to eat (elephant tusks are bigger, but they just look impressive and help them smash things; they don’t eat with them) topping out at 1.18 feet. They lived in the same oceans and ate the same food as the Megalodon, so this whale actually had to compete with the largest predatory shark ever.

Not to mention their head was 10 feet long and featured the same echo-locating equipment as modern toothed whales, making them much more effective in murky water. In case it was not obvious, this beast was named after the leviathan, a giant sea monster from the bible, and Herman Melville, who wrote Moby Dick. If the great white whale had been one of these, it would have eaten the Pequot and everyone aboard as a snack. 1. Giant Stingray What grew 17 feet across, had a 10 inch poison spike in its tail and was strong enough to drag a boat filled with people? In this case, a prehistoric super-fish that is still lurking around in fresh and brackish waters from the Mekong river to northern Australia. Stingrays have been around since a few million years after the dinosaurs died out, and have proven to be a successful design, much like the sharks they descended from. The giant stingrays use that tried and true ancient design, but have somehow managed to survive ice ages and even the catastrophic Toba event.

They were featured on Animal Planet’s River Monsters, and despite the host’s tendency to exaggerate damn near everything, they are incredibly dangerous to fool around with, even if you don’t know you are fooling around with one. They are notorious for putting their neurotoxin covered spike completely through limbs. I guess, on the plus side, if there is one, at least these prehistoric sea monsters won’t try to eat you. Megalodon is no. 10? Below a STINGRAY?!?! I feel disappointment towards my favorite of all sharks. “nor the ability to echolocate” I read that as nor the ability to eat chocolate And how long was is it? What year was they live? pls. reply me MEGALODON TOOTH TEETH FOR SALE Megalodon Teeth MIDDLE MIOCENE to LATE PLIOCENE PERIOD: 15.9 million years ago to 2.6 million years ago Imagine swimming in the water and suddenly without warning, being slammed by something as big as a Greyhound bus... but this bus is different. It has teeth the size of dinner plates and can swallow a full-grown horse in one gulp.

Second only to the sperm whale as the largest ocean predator that ever lived, no sea creature could have ever been more dangerous than the infamous and (fortunately) extinct MEGALODON shark. The Megalodon shark holds the title of being considered one of THE MOST POWERFUL predators of ANY vertebrate that ever lived, land or sea! From the Middle Miocene Period 15.9 million years ago to the Late Pliocene Period 2.6 million years ago, the ancient seas were terrorized by this beast. It is estimated that Megalodon could have easily reached 60 feet in length and weighed over 52 tons. Some researchers have stated lengths could have attained up to 80 feet! Fossil teeth have been found that exceed 7 inches in length. Teeth are measured on the longest diagonal distance from the outer edge of the root to the tip of the crown. The first documented mention of Megalodon remains date back all the way to the mid-1600's when writings described the discovery of large triangular teeth weathering out of rocks. They were believed to be petrified tongues of dragons and giant snakes.

Later in 1667, a naturalist from Denmark correctly identified them as shark teeth and produced a drawing reconstructing a giant shark's head with the teeth and a separate drawing of a Megalodon tooth. His findings were presented in a book called The Head of a Shark Dissected. In 1835, Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz gave the shark its initial scientific name of Carcharodon megalodon. His work relating Megalodon to the same lineage as the Great White shark are based on the similarity of the teeth of both sharks. Recent research offers up a contrasting theory of lineage. Today, there are two scientific schools of thought, both with excellent arguments, that attribute this monster shark to different lineages and names - the original name of Carcharodon megalodon, and a latter theory that has renamed the shark to Carcharocles megalodon. Megalodon fossil remains have been found in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, Canary Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malta, Grenadines and India. Megalodon teeth have even been found in deep ocean deposits such as the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

The most common Megalodon fossils found are the teeth and in rare instances, of vertebral columns or isolated vertebrae. Megalodon fossil discoveries of teeth articulated in partial jaws have been found in Central Florida, USA, as well as Peru. It is likely that such a large shark would have had an enormous migration range and been able to dive to extreme depths. No one knows exactly what a Megalodon shark looked like but from the shape and structure of the teeth, it is most likely that the appearance was similar to a stocky Great White shark - times six! Megalodon was larger and heavier than T. rex. Scientific reconstructions of this shark estimate the dorsal fin 5.5 feet tall, the pectoral fins at 10 feet in length and the tail over 12 feet high. If you were unfortunate enough to have a Megalodon shark swim over you, the pectoral fins would measure 30 feet from tip to tip with a torso in excess of 10 feet thick! The jaws were so large that this shark would be able to swallow a Rhinoceros whole. A predator this size would have most likely fed on large marine vertebrates, especially whales.

Why did Megalodon go extinct? Some have theorized that such a large shark must have needed equally large prey to sustain itself, namely large whales. As the ocean environments dramatically fluctuated with glacier and tectonic activity, large areas of ideal habitat were affected and even eliminated. Megalodon's food source changed because of this and the combination of these factors adversely affected the ability for such a massive predator to survive. Fossil teeth of the Megalodon shark are of special interest to collectors. Teeth of the highest quality, size and beauty are the rarest. They possess instatiable collector demand far in excess of their availability hence, they have proven to be one of the most promising investment fossils. Their demand continues to grow strongly and the few regions that such quality teeth are found are now either off-limits to public collecting or have been heavily collected out over the past decade to feed such demand in the market. Unlike many other Megalodon shark tooth dealers, we do not personally collect so we sell EVERY tooth we acquire and our primary focus over the years has been to stick with only the best and most unique Megalodon teeth. These teeth come at a price though, and every year, they go up.

The most subtle attractive features, unique coloration, etc., can radically up the value. If you want the best or most unusual, the premium price is well worth it and what seems like a full price today will be an unbeatable bargain tomorrow as the market continues to escalate for the premium Megalodon teeth. Lastly and most important, AVOID any teeth with restoration or repair if you want a specimen that will appreciate. Unlike all other types of fossils, Megalodon teeth withANY (even the slightest!) repair or restoration should and will sell FOR A FRACTION of the exact same tooth without such enhancements. Teeth without ANY trace of restoration or repair are WORTH MUCH MORE the price of teeth with such work performed. More and more, we are seeing teeth around 5 inches having some restoration and this is becoming a big problem with teeth over the 5 inch size class. The nature of restoration that is done is of very high quality and can go unnoticed without a trained eye and close examination. Caveat emptor! As a rule, Paleo Direct, Inc. does NOT sell any Megalodon teeth with repair or restoration.

We avoid such teeth and suggest you do the same and purchase a natural tooth within your budget rather than a large specimen that has been "doctored up". - text and fossil images copyright Paleo Direct, Inc., shark photos by Chris and Monique Fallows Special thanks is due Chris and Monique Fallows of Apex Predators for the use of their amazing Great White Shark photos above. Chris and Monique are dedicated to saving these beautiful and mysterious creatures from extinction. We fully support Chris in his shark preservation efforts and WE STRONGLY CONDEMN the sale of any MODERN shark products. We would hope you share the same responsible thinking. Filter by 10 Terrifying Prehistoric Sea Monsters - Listverse 10 Terrifying Prehistoric Sea Monsters Cam Kesel January 12, 2013 Some of the largest creatures this world has ever seen lived millions of years ago. Here are ten of the largest, most fearsome sea monsters ever to prowl the oceans: 10 Shastasaurus The ichthyosaurs were marine predators that looked like modern dolphins , and could reach a massive size during the Triassic period over 200 million years ago.

Shastasaurus, the largest marine reptile species ever found, was a variety of ichthyosaur that could grow to over 65 feet (20m), much longer than most other predators. But one of the largest creatures to ever swim the the sea wasn’t exactly a fearsome predator; Shastasaurus was a specialized suction feeder, eating mainly fish. 9 Dakosaurus Dakosaurus was first discovered in Germany and, with its odd reptilian-yet-fishy body, was one of the top predators in the sea during the Jurassic period. Fossil remains have been found across a very widespread distribution, turning up everywhere from England to Russia to Argentina. Though it is commonly compared to modern crocs, Dakosaurus could reach a length of 16 feet (5m). Its unique teeth have led scientists to consider it an apex predator during its reign of terror. 8 Thalassomedon Thalassomedon was a species of Pliosaur whose name translates from Greek to “sea lord” – and for good reason. They were massive predators, reaching lengths of up to 40 feet (12m).

Its flippers were nearly 7 feet (2m) long , allowing it to swim the depths with deadly efficiency. Its reign as a top predator lasted through the late Cretaceous period, finally coming to an end when the sea saw new and larger predators like the Mosasaur. 7 Nothosaurus Nothosaurus, only about 13 feet (4m) long, were aggressive hunters. They were armed with a mouth full of sharp, outward-pointing teeth , suggesting a diet of squid and fish. Nothosaurus is thought to have mainly been an ambush predator, using its sleek reptilian figure to sneak up on prey and take it by surprise. It’s believed that Nothosaurs were related to pliosaurs, another variety of deep sea predators. Fossil evidence suggests that they lived during the Triassic period over 200 million years ago. 6 Tylosaurus Tylosaurus was a species of Mosasaur . It was enormous, reaching more than 50 feet (15m) in length. The tylosaurus was a meat eater with a very diverse diet. Stomach remains show signs of fish, sharks, smaller mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and even some flightless birds.

They lived during the late Cretaceous in the seas that covered North America, where they sat firmly atop the marine food chain for several million years. 5 Thalattoarchon Saurophagis Only recently discovered, T. saurophagis was the size of a school bus , reaching nearly 30 feet (9m) long. It is an early species of ichthyosaur that lived during the Triassic period, 244 million years ago. Because they were alive shortly after the Permian extinction (Earth’s largest mass extinction, when 95% of marine life is thought to have been wiped out), its discovery is giving scientists new insights into the quick recovery of the ecosystem. 4 Tanystropheus While Tanystropheus was not strictly marine, its diet was mainly fish and scientists think it spent most of its time in the water. Tanystropheus was a reptile that could reach 20 feet (6m) long, and it is thought to have been alive during the Triassic period nearly 215 million years ago. 3 Liopleurodon Liopleurodon was a marine reptile measuring in at more than 20 (6m) feet in length.

It mostly lived in the seas that covered Europe during the Jurassic period, and it was one of the top predators around. Its jaws alone are believed to have been over 10 feet long – roughly the distance from the floor to the ceiling. With teeth that big, it’s easy to see why Liopleurodon dominated the food chain . 2 Mosasaurus If the Liopleurodon was huge, than Mosasaurus was colossal. Fossil evidence suggests that Mosasaurus could reach as much as 50 feet (15m) in length, making it one of the largest marine predators of the Cretaceous period . Mosasaurus’s head was like that of a crocodile, lined with hundreds of razor sharp teeth which could kill even the most well-armored enemies. 1 Megalodon One of the largest predators in marine history and one of the largest sharks ever recorded, Megalodons were as terrifying as they came. Megalodons prowled the depths during the Cenozoic Era, 28 – 1.5 million years ago, and were a much bigger version of the great white shark , an apex predator of today’s oceans.

But while our great whites only reach a maximum length of 20 feet (6m), Megolodons could grow to 65 feet in length (20m) – longer than a school bus ! Cam is an unreasonably poor high school student who freelances to support his nasty candy-eating habit. If you want to praise him/send him some money, you can find him on Facebook here . More Great Lists The Real Megalodon: Prehistoric Shark Behind Doc Uproar The Real Megalodon: Prehistoric Shark Behind Doc Uproar A "documentary" about the prehistoric shark has sparked public outrage. View Images Dr. Jeremiah Clifford, who specializes in fossil reconstruction, holds the jaws of a large great white shark while standing in the reconstructed jaws of a megalodon—a shark from the Miocene era that grew upwards of 50 feet long. Photograph by Louie Psihoyos, Corbis The megalodon, a prehistoric shark that would dwarf even the largest great white, hasn't roamed the seas for millions of years. But it's inspiring real dread today, thanks to a new documentary that aired Sunday night on the Discovery Channel and that critics are decrying as fake.

Related Content Monkey Tries to Mate With Deer in First Ever Video Called " Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives ," the two-hour documentary, which Discovery calls "dramatized," kicked off the channel's annual "Shark Week." It featured actors pretending to be scientists who are hunting for a live 67-foot-long (20-meter-long) megalodon nicknamed Submarine that is terrorizing humans and their boats off the coast of South Africa. The show sparked online outrage, as viewers took to Twitter to blast what they called a "mockumentary" under the hashtag #megalodon and to demand an apology from the network. "'We're out of fun facts about sharks so we've decided to make some up.' — @Sharkweek " tweeted @ElieNYC , inventing a sarcastic quote. Also on Twitter, @chrishildreth referred to Shark Week as "Lifetime for animals now.

Drama and bad acting," while @JBMason628 said, "As a scientist, I have completely lost faith in @Discovery trying to pass off #megalodon as real science." Discovery aired disclaimers at the end of the show, but also insisted that "though certain events and characters in this film have been dramatized, sightings of 'Submarine' continue to this day." The network's insistence—against all scientific evidence—that megalodon might still live angers and exasperates shark scientists like David Shiffman . "If this megalodon special had aired on the Syfy Channel, I probably would have loved it," said Shiffman, a doctoral student studying shark ecology and conservation at the University of Miami's Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy . "But Discovery bills itself as the premier science education television station in the world," he said, "and they're perpetuating this utter nonsense." Shiffman has been one of the show's most vocal critics on Twitter, where he tweets under the handle @WhySharksMatter . A Prehistoric Monster It's easy to understand why Discovery chose megalodon to kick off this year's Shark Week, though.

Growing to an estimated length of over 50 feet (16 meters), megalodon—literally "megatooth"—resembled something out of a prehistoric nightmare and has no modern equivalents in terms of size. "A great white is about the size of the clasper, or penis, of a male megalodon," Peter Klimley , a shark expert at the University of California at Davis, said in a 2008 interview. Some studies suggest megalodon, which lived from about 16 million years ago until about 2 million years ago, had the most powerful bite of any creature that ever lived—strong enough to crush an automobile and far stronger than that of the great white shark or even Tyrannosaurus rex . Another example of how intimidating megalodon could be: Where modern great whites hunt dolphins, scientists think megalodon hunted whales, or at least their ancestors , by biting off their tails and flippers. "Modern great whites will scavenge on a whale, but not actually take a [live] whale," Klimley said in an interview Tuesday. Like modern sharks, megalodon's skeleton was made mostly of cartilage.

As a result, nothing remains of the creature except its teeth, which were made of a bone-like material. That's enough, though, for scientists to get a sense of what megalodon looked like. "You can tell a lot based on just small parts of the bone," Shiffman explained. For example, "a lot of dinosaurs are known from a small part of bone." Although the megalodon dwarfed its living cousin—the great white—in size and weight, scientists say the great white actually looks pretty similar, with both possessing large teeth and a blunt snout. "If you picture a megalodon as a 50-foot [16-meter] great white, you're well on your way to what this animal was probably like," Shiffman said. Mysterious Disappearance For reasons that are still unclear, megalodon went extinct about 2 million years ago, during the middle Miocene era. One hypothesis, said Klimley, is that megalodon was unable to adapt to changing ocean conditions. Megalodon thrived during a time when the Earth's oceans were generally much warmer, and conditions were much more uniform.

But throughout the Miocene, the Isthmus of Panama started forming, culminating with the closure of the Central American Seaway around 3 million years ago. This shut off any exchange between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and one consequence of this was that regions of Earth's seas became cooler. Unlike its cousin the great white, megalodon may have been unable to evolve endothermy, or the ability to maintain an elevated body temperature, scientists say. "White sharks are able to occupy cooler waters right now from off the coast of central California to Oregon," Klimley explained. "These cooler waters extended northward, and [seals and dolphins] and whales also moved farther north in latitude, but megalodon was not able to do that." Another factor in megalodon's decline may have been the rise of competitors such as killer whales . "Being social hunters, it has been suggested that they out-competed megalodon's hypothesized solitary hunting style," Catalina Pimiento , a shark researcher studying megalodon at the University of Florida, explained in a recent blog post. Pimiento argues that studying extinct sharks like megalodon can have implications that are relevant to today's world.

"Great sharks today, like Megalodon in the past, are apex predators impacting communities via top down control," Pimiento wrote . "As we change the oceans, we also trigger cascading effects on entire ecosystems. Understanding the past—how this shark interacted in its community—can aid in making policy for marine systems." Inspiring Fear Many scientists are upset by Discovery's dramatized show about megalodon because they say it uses fear and deception to generate public interest in the shark. "It's kind of irresponsible," Klimley said. "It's just making something up to just scare people ... At least the movie Sharknado was kind of fun. It's so outlandish that nobody is going to take it seriously. But this is the kind of thing that people might take seriously." Shiffman worries that fear could have a chilling effect on shark conservation programs. "There's a lot of people who now say because they saw it on the Discovery Channel, that megalodons are real, and we have to launch a campaign to protect humans against them by killing sharks," he said. Follow Ker Than on Twitter . Comment on This Story

Question: The Megalodon is the largest ever known type of which sea creature?
Answer: Shark