- Titanoboa
This was the most massive snake to have ever lived. It is estimated to have been 42 feet in length and weigh about 2,500 pounds. While it was alive, 59 million years ago, it hunted mainly sea creatures – but it was definitely ready to attack anyone.
2. Short-faced Bear
This was an extinct bear from North America, the largest of which weighed about 2,110 pounds and was about 11-12 feet tall standing on its hind legs. The animal, which lived until 11,000 years ago, was primarily located in California and became one of the largest terrestrial carnivore mammals ever. Also, it reached speeds of 70 km/h.
3. Helicoprion
This was a long-lived, extinct shark-like fish about 39 feet long with a spirally arranged cluster of teeth called “tooth whorl” that’s about 2 feet long. The Helicoprion lived during the early Permian period, 290 million years ago, and the chimeras are its closest living relatives. Can you even imagine being attacked by this underwater killing machine?
4. Mosasaurus
This was an extinct aquatic reptile that reached up to 56 feet long and weighed around 5,000 kilograms. The Mosasaurus existed about 70 to 66 million years ago and, judging by the fossils found, it had very large eyes and outstanding hunting skills underwater.
5. Edestus giganteus
Also known as the “scissor-tooth shark”, it could reach up to 20 feet in length, the size of a modern great white shark. Its distinguishing feature is its single row of teeth in each jaw that resembles a huge pair of pinking shears. Despite their relatively smaller size compared to those sharks mentioned above, the Edestus were vicious hunters. The wear patterns discovered on their teeth suggest that they would often vertically thrash the prey, giving slash wounds to incapacitate them and then swallow.
6. Carbonemys cofrinii
This was an extinct species of turtle and one of the largest turtles in the world. Its shell measured about 5 feet 8 inches and it had massive jaws that were powerful enough to eat crocodylians. They used to live 59 million years ago and could easily eat an alligator today.
7. Dunkleosteus
This was a Late Devonian fish from 358-382 million years ago. It could grow up to 20 feet long, and weigh up to one ton! They are predators at the top of the food chain and are believed to have existed for 70 million years. One distinguishing feature of the Dunkleosteus is that instead of teeth, they have two pairs of sharp bony plates forming a beak-like structure. It took around 20 milliseconds for them to open their mouth and just 50 to 60 milliseconds for a complete snap.
8. Pulmonoscorpius
This was a giant species of extinct scorpion that grew up to 28 inches long. Unlike the usual scorpions, they didn’t live in forests or deserts but in swamps. They also had small pincers compared to their body size but a very thick tail. Although the exact potency of their venom is unknown, generally, the venom of scorpions with thick tails and small pincers is very potent.
9. Fasolasuchus
This was an extinct predatory Triassic archosaur with an estimated length of 26 to 33 feet and is considered the largest terrestrial predator to ever exist apart from the large theropods. It lived about 205 million years ago and its main advantage was its body structure that allowed it to run very fast, but also to attack its enemies easier.
10. Megalodon
Can you imagine what a pair of 7.1 inches long teeth could do to a human.. or a ship? Well, Megalodon is a species of extinct shark that may have been the most powerful vertebrate predator on Earth. It was 59 feet long and, thankfully enough, it lived about 2.6 million years ago. Just to get a point, a Megalodon’s bite was 10 times stronger than that of the largest white shark today.