The history of the Earth spans about 4.5 billion years, during which countless creatures have appeared and gone extinct thanks to evolution. The only evidence we have that they existed is their remains, such as bones, teeth, and footprints, among other things. Many of them are shared on the ‘Nature Was Metal’ community, where curious minds gather to get a look at how different our planet was long before humans came into existence.
We can bet our dear Pandas are curious too, so we compiled a list of the most fascinating photos and illustrations of creatures that became extinct millions of years ago. Scroll down to check them out for yourself, and don’t forget to upvote the ones you can’t believe are real.
While you’re at it, make sure to check out a conversation with Dr. Jingmai O’Connor, associate curator of fossil reptiles, Bethany Burke, vertebrate paleontologist and CEO of BKBONES, and Mattison Shreero, paleontologist, geologist, and science communicator at Geosplore, who kindly agreed to tell us all about extinct creatures.
#1 Just Saw Black Beauty – One Of The Most Complete T. Rex Skeletons Ever Found! In Classic ‘Death Pose’, Her Bones Are Black From A Specific Mineral Exposure During Fossilisation. Excited 5’5″ Primate For Scale
Image source: ramence
#2 The Skull Of Torosaurus, A Late Cretaceous North American Ceratopsian
Image source: ExoticShock
#3 The Massive Skull Of Megachoerus, A Giant Entelodont
Image source: UrsusArctosDoosemus
#4 The Femur Of A Patagotitan, One Of The Biggest Dinosaurs Known To Have Existed, Next To A 1.75 M Tall Paleontologist
Image source: aquilasr
#5 The Skull Of A Deinosuchus, Which As A Genus Are The Front-Runner To Be The Largest Known Crocodilian Of All Time
Image source: aquilasr
#6 The Skull Of Megaladapis Aka The Koala Lemur Compared To The Gray Mouse Lemur
Image source: ExoticShock
#7 The Size Of The Skull And Horns Of A Bison Latifrons, The Giant Long-Horned Bison
Image source: aquilasr
#8 The Size Of A Sarcosuchus Mount
Image source: aquilasr
#9 Skeletal Mount Of Velociraptor Mongoliensis Next To A 27 Kg Greyhound (Photo By Mark Witton)
Image source: Random_Username9105
#10 Blue Babe, A Mummified Bison Priscus (Museum Is In Alaska)
Image source: BaseNice3520
#11 Xiphactinus, A Beautiful Specimen Of A Terrifying Sea Monster
Image source: Jedi-master-dragon
#12 My Freshwater Stingray (Heliobatis Radians)
Image source: Rolopig_24-24
#13 A Tylosaurus Hunting A Xiphactinus In A Long-Time Display At My Local Natural History Museum (The Academy Of Natural Sciences)
Image source: aquilasr
#14 Dsungaripterus (Oc)
Image source: 00zxcvbnmnbvcxz
#15 Deinocheirus Juvenile (Oc)
Image source: 00zxcvbnmnbvcxz
#16 Two Giant Bird Species That Both Went Extinct Less Than 1000 Years Ago. The Giant Moa And The Elephant Bird
Image source: Upstairs-Nerve4242
#17 Appreciation Post For The Denver Museum’s Daeodon Reconstruction. Still One Of The Best, With Only A Few Inaccuracies
Image source: UrsusArctosDoosemus
#18 “That’s Me” (Art By Everydaylouie)
Image source: Mamboo07
#19 The Actual Size Of Dilophosaurus From This Dinosaur Horror Short
Image source: horrorsaurusrex
#20 A Roman Legionary vs. A European Bison In Germany Circa 100 Ad By Paleopete
Image source: ExoticShock
#21 Capuchin Monkeys Using A Glyptodon’s Shell And Stones To Crack Nuts But The Giant Mammal Will Make Its Lack Of Appreciation Known (By Xtinctdesign)
Image source: aquilasr
#22 The Head Of A Liopleurodon To Scale With The Artist Who Made It, Bob Nicholls
Image source: aquilasr
#23 Very Early Description Of A Woolly Mammoth From 1805 Based On A Frozen Carcass Found In Siberian Permafrost
Image source: WorriedAmoeba2
#24 Purussaurus Is One Of The Largest Known Of The Giant Crocodilians, Perhaps Even Surpassing Sarcosuchus In Size. It Reigned Supreme In Central South America In The Miocene Period, 8 Million Years Ago
Image source: No_Emu_1332
#25 Constance Kite, A Fossil Preparator At Harvard Seen 60 Years Apart With The Kronosaurus She Helped Put Together; This Specimen Was Est At 34 Feet, Over 15 Tons
Image source: aquilasr
#26 Chalicotherium (Oc)
Image source: 00zxcvbnmnbvcxz
#27 Torosaurus, The Largest Skulled Species Of Dinosaur With A Head Measuring Up To About 10 Feet Including A Massive Frill
Image source: aquilasr
#28 The Jaw Of Gigantopithecus Compared To That Of An Eastern Gorilla
Image source: aquilasr
#29 Arthropleura, The Largest Known Arthropod To Ever Exist At An Estimated 2.5 Metres Long, Walks Slowly Along An Ancient Carboniferous Coastline Looking For Food (Render By Prehistorica_cm)
Image source: Mamboo07
#30 David Attenborough With A Titanosaur Femur
Image source: aquilasr
#31 The Sheer Size Of The Dire Wolf
Image source: Mophandel
#32 The Only Taxidermied Specimen Of Saddle-Backed Rodrigues Giant Tortoise (Cylindraspis Vosmaeri), Kept At The French National Museum Of Natural History
Image source: Green_Reward8621
#33 Suncor Nodosaur, One Of The Best Preserved Dinosaurs. It Even Has Some Pigmets Left
Image source: Snoo-25929
#34 Oh God
Image source: Strong-Mention1608
#35 When A Spicomellus Shows Up Literally Carrying The Impaled Remains Of Its Fallen Enemies As Macabre, Decomposing Ornaments, You Don’t Question- You Just Give Way :b
Image source: Homunculus_316
#36 Comparison Of Theoretical Neanderthal Skeleton With Anatomically Modern Human. Ribcage And Pelvis , Is Twice As Big!
Image source: BaseNice3520
#37 To You, My Beloved Tikaalik
Image source: Cassualy_Stressed
#38 Shantungosaurus, The Largest Ornithischian And Largest Known Non-Sauropod Dinosaur, Compared To A Contemporary African Elephant
Image source: aquilasr
#39 Introducing The Tyrannosaur Of The Arctic, Nanuqsaurus. It Prowled Around The Area Of Alaska And Lived During Maastrichtian Period
Image source: OneTonight1811
#40 Damn The Size Of These Two Animals!!!, So Who Do You Think Takes The Crown As The Largest Land Mammal
Image source: No_Customer_9194
#41 Forgotten Extinct Animals: Bulldog Rat
Image source: Ok_Age5468
#42 Megalodons Broke A Lot Of Their Own Teeth. May Teeth Have Been Broken By The Natural Environment Over The Last Few Million Years, But Many Were Broken By The Sharks Themselves Making It Difficult To Find One That Is Complete
Image source: DarkWaterMegs
#43 Kronosaurus (Oc)
Image source: 00zxcvbnmnbvcxz
#44 Amphicyon Ingens, The Giant Bear-Dog. At 2.5m In Length And Weighing Over 550kgs, It Is One Of The Biggest Mammalian Land Carnivores Ever
Image source: UrsusArctosDoosemus
#45 The Size Of A Pelagornis Sandersi, The Longest Winged Bird Ever Known
Image source: aquilasr
#46 Inostrancevia (Oc)
Image source: 00zxcvbnmnbvcxz
#47 Smilodon Populator, Was Huge
Image source: FarTooCritical
#48 Stills From The Upcoming Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
Image source: Random_Username9105
#49 A Leopard Seal Encounters The Hominin Paranthropus On The Coast Of South Africa During The Middle Pleistocene By Joschua Knüppe
Image source: ExoticShock
#50 Barinasuchus, The Largest Land Predator In South America From The Late Eocene To The Middle Miocene, A 21.4 Million Year Reign
Image source: No_Emu_1332
#51 3 Pretty “Terror Birds” From South America
Image source: Ivan_Botsky_Trollov
#52 The Aust Colossus Possibly The Largest Animal To Ever Live!
Image source: CalendarAlive5703
#53 A Trio Of Utahraptor Attacking A Hippodraco
Image source: Mophandel
#54 The Sheer Size Of Megistotherium
Image source: DoubleLimit21
#55 Early Malagasy People Encountering Archaeoindris, A Gorilla-Sized Lemur, For The First Time In Madagascar By Peter Nickolus
Image source: ExoticShock
#56 Xenokeryx Amidalae, A Ruminant Relative Of The Giraffe From Miocene Spain By David Blaya
Image source: ExoticShock
#57 Styracosaurus Transverses A Wintery Environment (By Apsaravis)
Image source: aquilasr
#58 The Largest Wild Cat To Ever Exist, Sambir Lion
Image source: Slow-Pie147
#59 The “Killer Sperm Whale” Livyatan. It May Have Hunted Megalodons
Image source: Snoo-25929
#60 Fasolasuchus (Oc)
Image source: 00zxcvbnmnbvcxz
#61 Sacabambaspis, Jawless Fish From Ordovician Trapped In A Tide Pool
Image source: Jaybenn1889
#62 A Chart Of Many But Not All Of The Diversity Of Ichthyosaurs (By Mario Lanzas)
Image source: aquilasr
#63 Dorsal Views Of Various Theropods
Image source: Glaiviator
#64 The Size Of An Egg Of An Elephant Bird, The Most Massive Eggs Known To Be Have Existed In Nature
Image source: aquilasr
#65 Imagine Turning Around And Seeing This 5000 Pounds Behemoth Furiously Charging At You. Turd In My Pants Would Be Massive
Image source: WorriedAmoeba2
#66 The Imposing And Muscular Frame Of Smilodon (By Jaap Roos)
Image source: aquilasr
#67 The Walking Whales By Julio Lacerda
Image source: MoltenSmagma
