Massive and Terrifying Extinct Animals that Roamed the Earth

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Massive and Terrifying Extinct Animals that Roamed the Earth

By Monica Gray - May 19, 2022

Glyptodon

The Glyptodon were relatives of the armadillos that lived during the Pleistocene epoch. Surprisingly, these extinct animals were the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, weighing up to 1,850 pounds. It had squat limbs and a round, bony shell. It resembled the modern day turtle, and roamed the lands of North and South America. Their body shell alone was five feet. You wouldn’t want to mess with the Glyptodon, as their tails were equivalent to a lethal club. They devoured almost anything, including plants and insects (Wikipedia).

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Megantereon

These extinct animals were discovered in 1824, and were a genus of the saber-toothed cat. They wandered the lands of Africa, Eurasia, and North America. They’re dated to about 4.5 million years. They mostly resemble the modern-day jaguar, with stocky forelimbs and strong neck muscles that could deliver a powerful bite. Some of their prey included horses and young rhinos and elephants. That just goes to show you how powerful these animals were, and are ones we wouldn’t want to run into. If it could devour an elephant, imagine what it could do to a human? (Dinopedia)

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Liopleurodon

These large, carnivorous reptiles would’ve devoured us alive. Luckily, these now extinct animals no longer roam the seas, so we don’t have to worry while swimming in the ocean. They became extinct at the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, and were pretty deadly to other animals around them. It wasn’t until 150 million years ago when they went extinct, because a more vicious reptile emerged, the mosasaur, which ended up destroying the Liopleurodon (History of Yesterday).

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Cameroceras

These extinct animals are giant orthoconic cephalopods, which inhabited the earth during the Ordovician period. They were first spotted 470 million years ago. They’re most similar to modern day squids, cuttlefish, and octopus. At the opening of a hard cone-like shell was their head, which was soft muscular tissue. They used their long, slithering tentacles to manipulate and capture prey. If we were alive millions of years ago, these are the types of tentacles you wouldn’t want wrapped around your foot in the middle of the ocean. Just look at how massive that animal is! Their toothed tongue would aid in devouring the flesh of their prey. We wouldn’t even have a chance if one of these captured us (Wikipedia)

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