15 Most Terrifying Creatures That Lived Before Dinosaurs

when we think of prehistoric times we think of the dinosaurs but there was a whole world of creatures exploring the planet before them and honestly to say some of them were freaky feels like a real understatement from a scientifically described Gorgon face to the oldest animal ever discovered on earth here are the 15 most terrifying creatures that lived before dinosaurs number 15 Gorgon opción if any of you out there are looking for a new and creative insult for others then you're in luck the Gorgon op SIA or Gorgon face your welcome was a kind of animal that at one time was referred to as a mammal-like reptile and it's definitely not a pleasant looking thing Oh heads up if I pronounced any of the names of these creatures wrong I apologize what made the Gorgon op seus so frightening to look at was everything really but mostly it came down to the creatures unusual bone structure with a differentiated tooth shape pillar like legs and ear bones this was about as close to a mammal as a reptile likely could ever get and yet this is most definitely still a reptile or so we assume nobody really knows whether this thing had fur scales or just pure naked skin so calling it a reptile it all feels like a real stretch the largest known species of Gorgon opps you was around the size of a large bear with 12 centimeter long teeth that were clearly part of the animals evolution into being a carnivore surprisingly the Gorgon option is one of the least famous prehistoric creatures with only dedicated experts and enthusiasts even having heard of the thing but what we do know is this the Gorgon op SIA is not an animal that you would have wanted to cross paths with and not just because of the Gorgon face before we go on like this video smash the subscribe button and click the notification bell right now or this centipede will crawl on your face when you're sleeping [Music] number fourteen dick and Sonia we hate to say it but this is about to become a life-changing moment for you things will never go back to normal after you see what we're about to show you ladies and gentlemen meet dick and Sonia the animal kingdom's oldest and possibly strangest known member over 600 million years ago the dick and Sonia was quietly developing far beneath the ocean surface with no notable predators the dick and Sonia was able to evolve without the need for protective skin or even skeletons leaving them with an unusual oval like ribbed squishy body that looks nothing like any other animal alive today this animal is one of the earliest complex life forms ever to exist on our planet and it survived almost entirely on the microbes that covered the seafloor I think I speak for everyone when I say I think I would have mistaken this creature for sponge given that humans famously evolved from fish it's not outside the realm of possibility that the dick and Sonia was one of the many biological steps that led to the eventual creation of our own species it feels almost terrifying to imagine that this thing may be one of our earliest ancestors but well say hello to grandpappy dick and Sonia kids number 13 hi cthis if the unpronounceable name makes it too hard to comprehend just think of this as a fish with a backbone while the Cambrian period is probably best known for the sudden influx of unusual non vertebrate creatures this creature was one of the first to reverse that trend the Hika with this is one of a handful of fish considered to be almost vertebrates creatures that did not have a full backbone but the fate outline of one along with the pacaya and the Milo Kang Min Jia there's a lot of debate over whether or not this animal is considered to be a prehistoric fish but we are just going to go ahead and say that it is after all they must adapt or we don't have time for scientists to go through the whole experiment we have videos to produce despite the high calluses existing some 525 million years ago its existence wasn't even known until 1999 hence the ongoing debate about what exactly it is there just isn't enough detail for it to be considered part of either group the high calluses is one of the more unique fish-like creatures that existed before the dinosaurs a fascinating flat shaped being that even now is incredibly confusing to people whose whole business is old animals number 12 a Stratis evolution is truly a friend to those that are forced to endure the suffering of bullying take for instance the Astra spis which evolved from a helpless target into a much stronger and more resilient creature although it took a few thousand years so that's probably not all that comforting the estrus passaic creature in its time and not only because it looks like seymour ii from Little Shop of Horrors that one's for all those niche musical fans among us in its day the Esther aspis survived mostly from the nutrients and allergy that were littered amongst the seafloor which made it like all non carnivores a promising prey it's probably accurate to estimate that the astra spis was eaten by just about every predator alive during the Devonian period eventually the creature had been preyed on so often that it evolved to develop a new tougher head and body armor that would protect it against cunning predators like sharks unfortunately this new armor also made the 25 centimeter long astra spis gained significant weight up to a ton which didn't really help protect it against predators the Astra space is one of evolutions miracle stories a prey creature that was effectively transformed into something stronger it also looks weird so there's that number 11 Nemo desmos new-money for those of you that think we just invent do you really think we would have thought of something as wild as the new mo desmos Nnamani most of us can't even pronounce it not even those of us who are paid to to our modern eyes this is an ancient millipede but it actually has a much bigger historical significance than that hence the ridiculous name the new mo desmos Nnamani is at present the oldest known creature to ever have lived on land as well as the very first my Rhea pod those are tiny creatures with lots of legs the creature was discovered in 2004 thanks to fossils located in Scotland but it's actual age is pretty hazy while we know that it lived some 428 million years ago studies have suggested that it actually lived much earlier existing sometime in the early devonian period so we may never know for sure and for those of us that aren't huge fans of millipedes or centipedes or pretty much any small creature with more than four legs this is a pretty horrifying thing to look at the new MO desmos new-money predates the centipede by around ten million years and predates land vertebrates by 50 million years making this one old multi-legged little sucker number 10 no thesaurus it's common knowledge that reptiles like crocodiles and alligators are some of the last living to of dinosaurs on the earth but this unusual species is actually distinctly related to lizards and snakes which means they too could be considered descendants of dinosaurs the no thesaurus lived sometime in the Triassic period around 200 and 250 million years ago and is immediately recognizable by its 4 metre long slender body and long extended features unlike many of the dinosaurs that would come later this was a species that felt very comfortable in the water and lived a lifestyle that was probably comparable to what we now see with seals but what makes this creature particularly intimidating is its way of hunting while it could just grab and eat fish or other marine mammals that had happened to come across Vinoth the source was particularly well known for its ability to dig up hidden creatures lurking beneath the seabed once those creatures were chomped up by the no thesaurus there was no escape while this has not been confirmed by any experts it's highly likely that the no thesaurus is a distant relative or early ancestor of our modern lizards I mean they haven't confirmed it but we just set it with no evidence so who are you going to believe number 9 scutosaurus no two creatures are alike some are more slender some are bulkier and some are just giant in the case of the scutosaurus it's probably one of the biggest prehistoric creatures we've ever had on our planet just in sheer bulk it's the creature equivalent of the rock the scutosaurus was discovered by experts in 1920s Russia and was named accordingly with its translated English name being shield lizard that name is not unearned the scutosaurus was a six foot long one thousand pound thing with thick bones bulky muscles and a lot of armour plating all that plating meant that this animal was pretty well defended against potential predators even if it did make the creature significantly slower but what's most fascinating about the scutosaurus is that they were basically prehistoric buffalo roaming the floodplains of Eurasia some 250 million years ago just as cows and buffalo travel in packs today the scutosaurus did back then the scutosaurus was a herbivorous creature but it's definitely a scary one while humans were obviously not around at the time this animal would likely behave in the same way an elephant or rhino would if it felt confronted by a human which is to say it it crush you number 8 Dimetrodon angel' enza's these names just get cooler and cooler Dimetrodon angel' Ensis is the largest known species of Dimetrodon at 4 metres long and a pretty freaky thing to boot it's basically what you'd get if you combined a lizard with a mountain range while the most notable feature of the Dimetrodon is that fascinating snail on their back experts still don't know what that was actually for the most likely theories that it was used to intimidate rivals or attract mates not unlike certain modern birds but others believe that the snail was designed to regulate the body temperature of the creature which seems kind of awkward but I guess nobody had invented climate control 250 million or more years ago what we do know is that the Dimetrodon was one of the earliest meat-eating predators on our planet and likely posed a significant threat to just about any creature it came across maybe it's just me but there is something quite frightening about encountering a sinister looking thing with a big old fan on its back at that point I'd probably be jumping off whichever cliff was closest number 7 Jaeckel of taurus some of you out there are really not going to enjoy this entry with that cryptic introduction out of the way let's get into some unsettling large prehistoric creepy crawlies shall we this is the largest discovered monster anthropods a two and a half metre extinct creature known as the Jacob Taurus the jiggle of Taurus existed 400 million years ago and is an ancient ancestor to our modern sea scorpion but when experts from the University of Bristol discovered a whopping forty six centimeter cloth from one of these creatures they began to realize that uncle Jake was not exactly a small little relative he was a big big boy in a scientific paper exploring their discovery the University of Bristol colleagues suggest that these giant scorpions were actually an incredible fearsome predator before the age of the dinosaurs and were especially gifted at hunting while many predators have no patience and just dive on whatever they get the Jay Club tourists waited and waited and waited the second a bit of prey moved before it they'd tear it to shreds and eat the remaining pieces and that's Uncle Jake often we complain about the presence of animals we don't like spiders snakes or minor irritations like wasps or Hulk Hogan but it's worth remembering that we live in a very good time Coco ghen isn't in the spotlight anymore number six Titanic fees know the Titanic fees has absolutely nothing to do with the Titanic just thought I'd shut that one down before the inevitable conspiracy theories begin the Titanic fees was a long long marine creature from the late devonian period and it was long not joking about that one the Titanic fees was an 8 meter long creature that could mostly be found in shallow waters in Morocco America and according to some Europe what made this animal so terrifying you ask well other than its slightly unnerving appearance this animal is one of the most famous marine predators a filter feeder the Titanic thiis was able to inhale whole schools of fish and chomp them down in one tasty efficient and very economical bite now that's always scary no matter what animal you're talking about once that vacuum mouth gets going there's no way to escape it thankfully the Titanic fees is no longer exploring our planet Shores so while those little fish are free to roam the oceans safely until another filter feeder comes along and just completely swoops them all to oblivion poor things still at least it wasn't us right number five aggro cassis it's always exciting when a new creature gets discovered some hundreds of millions of years after it actually existed it's like going into a time machine or hearing dr. Seuss spin some nonsense for the first time only real obviously the egg Arrakis is been male or a guru cassis for short is a very new discovery only presented to the public for the first time in 2015 Mohammed Ben moolah was the first to the unusual fossils in Morocco and quickly discovered that they showed some kind of giant extinct sea creature with gills along its back unusually modified legs and a filter system for feeding when he came to explore the fossils info he found that this find was apparently one of the biggest anthropods that ever lived measuring a whopping seven feet in length but this weird animal has also helped fill in some blanks for scientists who have long wondered about the unusual gaps in the evolution of anthropods but mostly it's just a very very weird creature and it's far too big I would argue that any giant creature is too big but the acre oasis is definitely too big while we don't know a whole lot about this mysterious animal we know that dr. Seuss definitely did not invent it it's not funny enough to be one of his number four sign Agnetha s' as humans we have a lot of weird genetic relatives and ancestors but I dare say that the site nog natha's is one of the strangest technically speaking this is not an animal that is directly related to humans but mammals as a whole this is really one of the first the sign dog natha's were in existence some 250 million years ago and essentially functioned as some of the earliest mammals in the history of the world native to South Africa and South America these creatures were about the size of modern wolves and lived pretty much the same lifestyle as a modern wolf which is to say they were very active in their hunt for food they were not herbivorous creatures by any sense of the word but despite their predatory nature designed Agnetha's is a relatively small creature which arguably makes it even better at hunting thanks to its short tail and tucked limbs the sign magnificent and efficient movements that meant very few prey got away as one of the first mammals to exist on earth much of the animal kingdom as we know it came from the scenography which is really incredible as a fact all of its own but to think such an accomplished creature is related to me as I sit on my couch eating ice cream I'm kind of ashamed and hungry number three arthropleura sure it's real name is arthropleura but we'll just call him Arthur although we should say that this isn't one of your cuddly or prehistoric animals actually I imagine most people would be more on the side of kill it with fire than cuddle it but we'll see how we go on this one the arthropleura is the most giant land dwelling insect of all time which for most of us is such a nightmare that there's a whole sub-genre of horror movies about it them arachnophobia tarantula b-movie and deadly mantis and that's just a handful anyway back to Arthur thankfully the anthro plot is not as large as some of the creatures in those movies just due to the simple laws of nature if an insect did get as big as one of the ants in them they'd basically be unable to move which might actually be scarier can you imagine a giant insect that just sits there thankfully for us the anthro player is a nightmare long gone today's anthropods are small and a minor inconvenience still we must never forget that there was a period of history that was rife with giant insects I'll stick to the movies I think number two is stem manasa kiss yeah I know look whenever these creatures are discovered people just kind of pick letters out of a hand and keep going until the name just abruptly comes to an end it's not a system I approve of but I accept it anyway the s10 manasa kiss boy this is going to be a tough one to try and get through the s-stem manasa kiss or crowned crocodile if you are looking to translate the original gibberish into English was a scary-looking animal that existed over 255 million years go this creature looked like a slightly Wilder version of a hippopotamus albeit with a very unusual crown atop its head but in actuality the animal only looked terrifying apparently the creature itself behaved more like a cow lb ate a 13 foot long 500-pound cow this herbivorous animal would really pose no threat to humans or general wildlife whatsoever but it's definitely not the kind of animal you want to bump into on a dark night for that reason we're pretty glad that these creatures aren't around anymore or really we're just happy that we have modern cows to take their place they're much less scary unless you anger them of course number one hello Capri on you're probably thinking this was a flying creature right not quite well you're on the right track to acquaint helicoper yawn and helicopter it's not quite that simple there's only one similarity between the creature and the aircraft and it's not the flying part actually the helicopter on is a pretty freaky marine creature most known for its unfortunate whirls of elongated teeth which look incredibly like a buzz saw which is reminiscent of correct the whirling rotators of a helicopter but amusingly enough paleontologists actually had no idea where this odd little fossil went on the creature for over a century it wasn't until 1899 when a russian geologist alexander petrovich Karpinski suggested that they could be the teeth of a shark like fish that the idea even gained traction according to Karpinski the helicopter yawn would have warned the swirly tooth on its nose which is bizarre the helicopter yawn is far too unique to be confined to the shadowy corners of history and it's definitely not a creature that's easy to forget but perhaps more importantly this thing is freaking terrifying it has a buzzsaw tooth for crying out loud what more could you want which of these creatures would you least like to see for yourself let us know in the comments also check out our other cool stuff showing up on screen right now see you next time

Channel: Amerikano

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Keywords: animals, dinosaurs, creatures, extinct, extinct animals, prehistoric animals, scary, sea creatures, dinosaur, facts, prehistoric, terrifying, prehistoric creatures, scariest, extinct creatures, terrifying creatures, who lived on earth, animal, nature, terrifying extinct creatures, viral, scary creatures, scary animals, jurassic park, biggest creatures, before the dinosaurs, life before dinosaurs, terrifying animals, terrifying prehistoric creatures, scariest animals, ancient animals

Id: xePmTA-gMAw

Length: 21min 6sec (1266 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 13 2020