Top 10 Scary Prehistoric Monsters

How’s it going, YouTube? I’m your host Landon Do Not Sing and welcome back to another most amazing video. Did you guys know that you can now sponsor our channel? If you become a sponsor you are going to get exclusive access to a bunch of bonus content like sponsor only live streams, you can view videos before they become public and you get cool badges that we can see in the comment section. If this sounds good to you, hit that sponsor button. Alright enough of all that, let’s get into today’s video. Ever since Jurassic Park was released, people have been wondering what life would have been like if dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. They were at the top of the food chain for 135 million years and they probably still would be if that comet didn’t hit Earth, but the Earth is a lot older than dinosaurs, and there have been some other terrifying creatures roaming our world that give dinosaurs a run for their money. So, let’s jump into this list of the top 10 scary Pre-historic monsters. Starting us off in at number 10 we are going to be looking at the Arthropleura. There are a few living animals that scare people more than bugs, insects or spiders. The Arthropleura can probably be an exception to this rule because of look at this thing. It’s literally a horror movie turned into real life because this creepy crawler actually lived on earth. I don’t know about you guys, but if I see a centipede, I run out of the room faster than Hussein Bolt, so I don’t even know if I would be able to handle seeing an Arthropleura in real life. They are the largest known land invertebrates of all time and it is highly unlikely that they had any predators. I mean, would you want to mess with that? They could grow up to lengths of 8.5 feet and even though they were herbivores, that doesn’t make them any less scary. Just looking at all of their legs gives me the creeps, so let’s move on. Flying into our number 9 spot we have the Quetzalcoatlus This prehistoric beast dominated the skies of North America during the late Cretaceous period. This creature was a type of pterosaur and not a dinosaur. A lot of people believe that the pterodactyl was the most dangerous thing lurking in the skies, but they are sadly mistaken. That honor goes to the Quetzalcoatlus whose wingspan was around 35 feet and weighed between 450-550 pounds which makes them the largest creature to ever fly. Imagine if these animals were still alive today? They had the ability to pick up a fully grown male so this would be terrifying. I would never want to leave my house. When this creature is on the ground, it is equivalent to the size of a giraffe. I mean, is this real life right now? Scientists believe that they could reach altitudes of 10,000 feet and glide at speeds of 100 miles per hour. The Smilodon bites its way into number 8. The Smilodon is an extinct saber-toothed cat who lived between 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 years ago. Just by looking at pictures of this prehistoric animal, you can tell that they were pretty vicious. They were about 5 feet long, 3 feet high and weighed in at 440 pounds. But that’s not the scary thing about these animals. I mean, just take a look at their teeth. That’s enough to give you nightmares for weeks. Their canine teeth would grow up to a foot long and they had no problems taking down their prey. They would jump down on their prey from tree branches, sink their teeth into his neck and then leave their prey to bleed to death. Once they are dead, the Smilodon would return to eat its carcass. Another interesting thing about these creatures is that they are often referred to as Saber-toothed tiger, but they weren’t tigers. They are actually distantly related to lions and cheetahs. Next up, in at number 7, we have the Gorgonops whose teeth were too big for its own mouth. I know what you’re thinking, this is a pretty scary looking beast, so why wasn’t he in Jurassic Park? Well, he isn’t a dinosaur, actually, the Gorgonops is a therapsid who lived 260 million years ago which is way before the dinosaurs came onto this Earth. Their name literally translates to dreadful, and I mean…looking at their pictures I would say this name is pretty accurate. These scary looking creatures were about 10 feet long and weighed in at 1,000 pounds. There isn’t a lot of information about these animals but scientists believe that they were a prime predator of their time because they were huge and had very sharp, razor-like teeth that could easily slice through their prey. And even though they weren’t as big as a dinosaur, they definitely would’ve scared other animals that lived during their time. Terrifying us in at number 6 we have the Basilosaurus. Their fossils were first discovered in Louisiana, the USA in the 1830’s and when the paleontologists were studying their fossils, they initially believed that these creatures were giant reptilian sea monsters. But they later discovered that they were wrong. The Basilosaurus can be translated into king lizards, but evidence shows that they weren’t reptiles at all, actually they are prehistoric whales. They existed around 34 million years ago and scientists believe that these creatures slithered in the water like a giant eel except they were 60 feet long with powerful back legs and a jaw that could easily snap their victims. Oh, and to make things even more interesting, they had a bite force of 3,600 pounds. Thankfully they are extinct because they would probably be hunting humans but back in their day, they loved to hunt fish and sharks in shallow waters. Slithering into our number 5 spot, we are talking about Titanoboa. For those of you who are terrified of snakes, things are about to get real. The Titanoboa is the largest snake that ever existed. They reached lengths of 50 feet and weighed 2,000 pounds. So, to put that into perspective, they are twice as long and four times as heavy as the modern day giant anaconda. Paleontologists say that the Titanoboa hunted a lot like crocodiles do. They would lurk in the water and go near the water’s edge so that they could attack unsuspecting, thirsty animals. They would strike their prey from the water and wrap themselves around them, crushing them to death and then put their massive jaws around them. This prehistoric snake lived in the jungles of South America five million years after the dinosaurs went extinct. Let’s just say that I am glad the Titanoboa went extinct because I don’t think that humans and this monster could have co-existed. Chomping its way into number 4 we have the Spinosaurus. The name is derived from its seven-foot-long spines and it lived about a hundred million years ago during the Cretaceous period. The Spinosaurus was known to thrive both on land and water which made them a “super predator.” This terrifying creature is the largest carnivorous dinosaur that ever roamed the Earth, yep, that means that they were even bigger than the Tyrannosaurus rex. They could grow over 50 feet long, 20 feet high and weigh in at six tons. One of its most distinctive features was their huge spines on their backs. These spines could grow up to five feet tall and the Spinosaurus used this as a way to intimidate other predators and to show off to a potential mate. Yeah, I think that would be highly effective. I mean, I definitely wouldn’t want to get into a fight with this thing if they were still around. Biting its way into number 3 we have the Mosasaurus. This aquatic Godzilla looking creature was not a dinosaur. Technically the Mosasaurus was a meat-eating, reptile that lurked in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. The largest Mosasaurus species grew over 50 feet long and they lived at the surface of the water in order to breathe air. They would basically feed on whatever was edible or any animal that was unfortunate enough to cross their paths. This meant that they ate fish, plesiosaurs and even other Mosasaurus. Let’s take a look at their mouths, they had terrifying jaws. They actually have a second pair of teeth in its upper palate so that any prey that was sliding down their throat wouldn’t be able to escape and their jaws could expand to help swallow their prey whole. Their closest living relatives are the Komodo dragon and monitor lizards. Stomping into number 2 is the Giganotosaurus. It roamed Argentina during the late Cretaceous period which was about 97 million years ago and it is known as one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs. These scary looking beasts were 40-43 feet long, weighed nearly 14 tons and had very sharp teeth. These guys walked upright on two large and powerful legs and they might have been very agile because of their tail. The Giganotosaurus didn’t really have any natural predators because of its size and they had the capability of killing any live prey that crossed their paths. They had flat, serrated teeth that were also helpful when they would slice through the flesh of their prey. There is even evidence to suggest that these dinosaurs were pack hunters and they would hunt in large groups. Making our way into number 1 we have the massive Megalodon. This prehistoric monster makes the great white shark look like a goldfish. Luckily for humans, this beast went extinct 2.6 million years ago. The Megalodon was the largest predator that ever lived. Paleontologists predict that the Megalodon grew up to 60 feet and weighed over 60 tons. Oh, and did I mention that their teeth could grow over 7 inches long? The Megalodon’s diet mainly consisted of whales and other large sea creatures. They had a bunch of savage hunting strategies such as ripping apart and biting off their prey’s fins in order to immobilize them or they would attack them from below. They had a bite force of 10.8-18.2 tons which was more than enough to easily crush the skull of prehistoric whales. So, you must be wondering, how did the largest predator go extinct? No one knows for certain, but scientists believe that their population decreased due to global cooling or by the decline in the population of the giant whales which made up the bulk of their diets. But some people still theorize that the Megalodon still lurks at the bottom of our oceans. So, the next time you are considering going for a dip in the ocean, you might want to think about what could be lurking below… Well, there you guys have it…