The Big The Bad and the Ugly We all know that some very ugly very scary dinosaurs ruled the Earth for over 100 million years But they weren’t the only creatures on the planet Before and after the dinosaurs there were other animals every bit as spine-chilling Can you imagine what the world would be like if they came back to life Well you are about to fi nd out All life started in the sea and that’s where the fi rst big scary animals appeared too About 475 million years ago there were massive sea scorpions with claws the size of tennis rackets and creatures in shells called nautiloids the size of crocodiles The fi rst dinosaurs evolved 230 million years ago or even before but they didn’t rule the world right away They couldn’t they were only 6 10 feet 2 3 meters long and some were just twice the size of chickens Even when dinosaurs had become ginormous they had to watch out for crocodiles like Sarcosuchus Four times as heavy as modern crocodiles it liked a dinosaur for dinner Liopleurodon s u r u a s o r Kimme 6 Nautiloids In the seas the top predators were reptiles such as the pliosaurs A mighty one was the sleek and deadly 21-foot long 6 m Liopleurodon left here shown grabbing a plesiosaur called Kimmerosaurus And the biggest pliosaur of all was Pliosaurus funkei
Mammals started evolving at the same time as dinosaurs But they kept a low profi le while the dinosaurs were around For about 160 million years most mammals were shrew-sized any larger and they would have been gobbled up by hungry carnivorous dinosaurs After the dinosaurs died out mammals grew to massive proportions Chalicotherium left lived from about 28 million to 4 million years ago and stood about 9 feet 2 75 m tall Some mammals even evolved into sea creatures Whales were once land mammals that started swimming in the seas to catch fi sh On page 26 you can meet the biggest whale ever Livyatan So prepare to plunge into the ancient oceans to discover not only giant sea scorpions and nautiloids but also truly epic marine monsters such as armor-plated Dunkleosteus below And if you think modern killer whales and great whites are dangerous well they are peace loving pussycats compared to their awesome ancestors Chalicotherium If you’ve got the courage to witness the invasion of the prehistoric sea brutes read on just be prepared for some truly bizarre and scary encounters between modern creatures and these now-extinct beasts Dunkleosteus 7
Big Nipper Sea scorpion or eurypterid Let’s face it we are all a little frightened of scorpions even though they are not very big Can you imagine a scorpion bigger than an adult human No Well meet the modern scorpion’s bigger badder prehistoric ancestors the sea scorpions or eurypterids They swam through ancient oceans and scuttled across sea fl oors terrorizing every other living thing they came in contact with The sea scorpion chased down prey quickly with the help of its long tail and paddle like swimming legs Then it would go in for the kill with its huge claws These were the size of tennis rackets and were covered with deadly spines perfect for holding the unfortunate victim against the sea fl oor and then slicing and shredding it The only thing it was missing was an underwater cutting board What if sea scorpions lived today You’d have to feel sorry for the diver here But if he’s a strong swimmer he’ll probably lose no more than a fl ipper Fossil finds What’s New York famous for Yeah a city full of skyscrapers Broadway theaters and Fifth Avenue shops But New York state has one other big claim to fame hundreds of eurypterid finds including the first one ever in 1818 In fact the sea scorpion is the designated state fossil eurypterid PRONOUNCED You-RIP-ter-id LIVED Seas worldwide around 467 million 250 million years ago LENGTH Up to 8 feet 2 5 m 8
