Who's got some cool ancient megafauna I've never heard of? Here are some examples I find interesting:
The giant ape, Gigantopithecus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantopithecus):
(https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dn24861-1_800.jpg?width=800)
The American short-faced bear (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctodus):
(https://dinoanimals.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Short-faced-bear-66.jpg)
The terror of the ancient seas, the giant shark Megalodon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalodon):
(https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/09/ac-graphic-tech-megalodon-v4-1.jpg?w=620)
You got any favorites?
Yes, although this one may not quite qualify as it's not really ancient 🙂
My favorite is the Seller's Sea Cow:
(https://dinoanimals.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Stellers-sea-cow-2.jpg)
(https://www.nhm.ac.uk/content/dam/nhmwww/discover/stellers-sea-cow/stellers-sea-cow-illustration-two-column.jpg.thumb.768.768.jpg)
It was a huge sea cow or rather dugong that could probably reach up to 9 metres length and a weight of 8 to 10 tons. A population in the Bering Sea existed and the species was described by Georg Wilhelm Steller in 1741. A mere 27 years later, in 1768, it had been hunted to extinction for its meat and blubber.
I find it fascinating that most people are completely unaware such a creature existed up until relatively modern times. Unfortunately, this was at a time when nations were whaling and had no care for sustainability or catch quotas. Bye, beautiful dugong.
Looking at the ocean and the abundance of macro algae, it seems a little weird that there seems to be nothing that really grazes on it. No more cows in the ocean.. well, at least not here.