Extinct Prehistoric Lifeforms That You Wish Were Still Around And Those You're Glad Are Gone

[Guttersnipe]

Ambulocetus, or walking whale. Some of the illustrations of it remind me of my old Welsh corgi. The amphicyon or bear dog looks interesting. As long as they're in a zoo or something, I wouldn't mind.

 

[BAYLOR]

Ambulocetus, or walking whale. Some of the illustrations of it remind me of my old Welsh corgi. The amphicyon or bear dog looks interesting. As long as they're in a zoo or something, I wouldn't mind.

You might find James Rollins novel Icehunt to be of interest.

 

[Matteo]

Keep meaning to find a decent book about pterosaurs - a lot of interesting work has been done on them lately. I think picking the right pterosaur would be important. They range from Pterodactylus antiquus (about the size of a duck) to Quetzalcoatlus northropi (the size of a small aircraft).

Bought this one years ago and it's excellent (though obviously some parts will be a little out of date)

And its not just a picture book...

 

[JimC]

Peter's Pterosaur Encyclopedia is still far and away the best in the field.

"I think picking the right pterosaur would be important".

Would you elaborate on that? What parameters are appropriate for your selection?
I work mostly on their biomechanics and flapping flight mechanics (concentrating on the two morphs of Quetzalcoatlus and to a lesser extent, Anhanguera piscator). They depended primarily on soaring, but were extremely powerful flappers as well, though they couldn't flap for very long at a time.

The top photo below is of the left humerus of Quetzalcoatlus northropi seen from the front, the same for the smaller morph, and the left scapulocoracoid of the smaller morph seen from the rear. The photo was taken with a telephoto lens, so my arms in the background are pretty much the same scale. The big guy weighed about 150 Kg in life; the small one 20-22 Kg.

The bottom photo is me out in my front yard holding the left humerus of the big guy.
shoulder is in my right hand, elbow in my left.

 

[JimC]

"Mark Witton's reconstruction of Quetzalcoatlus"

"Those would definitely be dangerous to have around. Im thinking humans would likely be on their menu".

Quetzie didn't have teeth.

 

[KGeo777]

I guess a woolly mammoth herd would be cool to see trucking through the snow or triceratops or brontosaurus but I think they would be harassed to death. Elephants and orca whales were doing great for the most part until the roman circus and deep sea fishing. Look at rhinos.

The Great Auk--that is beyond pathetic--it survived eons until the 19th century and was killed off because some idiots fancied their feathers and eggs as decorations. You would like to go back in time and have a few minutes alone with them in a drawing room.
Humans hunters are such noxious pests too.
How many leopards have driven a species to extinction? Probably not many. How many weasels or tigers or lions? Probably none. They know when to say when. They don't hunt for pleasure--unless it is to practice for survival. Maybe a lynx or a wild mink would do it. It's a waste of energy otherwise. Hunting is not easy--that footage of the lions trying to get a bison and they are having a tug of war with a crocodile and then the herd shows up and kicks the lion in the rear.

Wolves have a predation rate of under 20% so they scavenge most of the time.
A human cannot be an apex predator not only because they cause extinctions but because they need tools (which lets them kill the strongest animals instad of the weaker). Leopards are hunters because they are designed for it. No tools needed. They are born with what they need. Even the Kalahari bush man needs a water bag and spear to hunt big antlered gazelles to exhaustion. They can't do it otherwise.
Chimps use tools as well but they can also rip you apart which no human can do.

I believe in the Horner theory that T-rex was mostly a scavenger. It makes perfect sense. If you are that big, and there are a lot of carcasses around-why would you risk breaking a leg in a chase?
How many T-rexes could be fed by a dead brontosaurus? It's Burger King restaurant for carnivores.

 

[BAYLOR]

I guess a woolly mammoth herd would be cool to see trucking through the snow or triceratops or brontosaurus but I think they would be harassed to death. Elephants and orca whales were doing great for the most part until the roman circus and deep sea fishing. Look at rhinos.

The Great Auk--that is beyond pathetic--it survived eons until the 19th century and was killed off because some idiots fancied their feathers and eggs as decorations. You would like to go back in time and have a few minutes alone with them in a drawing room.
Humans hunters are such noxious pests too.
How many leopards have driven a species to extinction? Probably not many. How many weasels or tigers or lions? Probably none. They know when to say when. They don't hunt for pleasure--unless it is to practice for survival. Maybe a lynx or a wild mink would do it. It's a waste of energy otherwise. Hunting is not easy--that footage of the lions trying to get a bison and they are having a tug of war with a crocodile and then the herd shows up and kicks the lion in the rear.

Wolves have a predation rate of under 20% so they scavenge most of the time.
A human cannot be an apex predator not only because they cause extinctions but because they need tools (which lets them kill the strongest animals instad of the weaker). Leopards are hunters because they are designed for it. No tools needed. They are born with what they need. Even the Kalahari bush man needs a water bag and spear to hunt big antlered gazelles to exhaustion. They can't do it otherwise.
Chimps use tools as well but they can also rip you apart which no human can do.

I believe in the Horner theory that T-rex was mostly a scavenger. It makes perfect sense. If you are that big, and there are a lot of carcasses around-why would you risk breaking a leg in a chase?
How many T-rexes could be fed by a dead brontosaurus? It's Burger King restaurant for carnivores.

Triceratops were like a living armored tanks and T Rex's greatest opponent Those two massive horns it he'd were quite formidable and more often than not, in encounters with T Rex , Triceratops tended to prevail. I wish Triceratops could have survived into our time.

One the biggest mistake film maker make with Dino is putting together special that didn't exist at the same time . For example , T Rex and Stegosaurus. The problem there is Stegosaurus existed 80 million years before T Rex and they were long gone by the time T Rex came on scene.

 

[KGeo777]

The question is--did triceratops and company have horns for fighting t-rex. I think looking at elephants and rhinos etc--or even deer, they don't have antlers to impale mountain lions probably. Not the main reason for them.

There was an episode of Prisoners of Gravity where they discussed dinosaurs--and a writer made a comment that people tend to choose between T-Rex and Triceratops. I prefer Triceratops--I guess it suits my personalty better--which is what they were saying. Your personality dictates which one you prefer.
But this writer said seriously (though iit sounded funny) that he used like playing with a triceratops toy and making it plow through soldiers etc.

 

[JimC]

Humerus of Argentavis (top) vs Quetzalcoatlus (bottom).
Notice the difference in the size of muscle attachment scars.

 

[JimC]

BTW, in animations of pterosaur flapping flight, animators invariably get it wrong at the wrist.
If they had palms, birds would fly palms down.
Pterosaurs, palms forward.
Bird wrists articulate in both the horizontal and vertical planes.
Pterosaur wrists only in the horizontal.
In life it made the wing flapping 'paths' look quite different, but the animators make the pterosaur flap look like a bird's. It always yanks me right out of the scene when I see that.

 

[Oochillyo]

hey everyone how are all

If I can keep the creature with me or (if not for like space reasons) if I could at least witness it in the wild I have always wanted Opabinia back

I've always loved this little guy since I was like 5 or so and saw a brief part of a prehistoric documentary about some of the earliest life and the documentary was scary at times but awesome, the creatures from the Cambrian Period and before are awesome and its a shame they are all gone and with no living relative.

I also got a like 1000 facts of everything book, the green version my friend had the red version but there are some pages about Prehistoric life and I am glad they picked a lot of creatures from that time period to talk about including Opabinia and the colours ect looks great in the book

Most people know like T.REX and Jurassic period ect but tracking back further generally people dont know the whole range of time periods and the creatures back then so it would be super cool to have one of these guys if anything to be brought back something from that time period would be incredible since they are soo old 540 million years ago its practically impossible we could get them back so imagine you had like a Doctor Who time machine or got the luckiest fossil ever and Jurassic Park it back would be one like the most famous Palaeologist ever

Opabinia was always one of my fav creatures in that time period its soo cool with 5 eyes and its like trunk with a claw at the end, life was soo cool back then like not yet found the best patters you know anything was possible and I know a lot about Prehistoric things always loved dinosaurs ect and I know a lot and if I could why not bring back some of the earliest creatures

You know those little creatures you can get that are pre historic you can find them in the wild too they are an ancient species too called Triops I had some before they are soo awesome and having Opabina is like the golden ticket version ha

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Thats my pick but ultimately I would want everything thats gone back its a shame when creatures are lost and all the un know species maybe one day something crazy happens and we get a chance to bring some of these creatures back even though I dont know how I feel about that either ha would be a bit freaky thinking is it like the true version does it count ect but yeah till them we should protect nature and animals we have

Take care everyone hugs

Regards - Declan Sargent

 

[Guttersnipe]

I think most dinosaurs, primarily carnivores, would need an insanely wide berth. The herbivores could stampede as well. Still, to observe it all from a safe distance would be my dreams come true, more for my younger self than today.

 

[Matteo]

The woodlice thread reminded me I forgot to post some photos of a few trilobite specimens. I identified the largest as Ogygiocaris, but a more learned person said it was Ogyginus Corndensis - which seems more likely as I found it, and the other two, near Builth Wells (in the late 80s). Ordovician so 485-445 mya.

 

[BAYLOR]

The woodlice thread reminded me I forgot to post some photos of a few trilobite specimens. I identified the largest as Ogygiocaris, but a more learned person said it was Ogyginus Corndensis - which seems more likely as I found it, and the other two, near Builth Wells (in the late 80s). Ordovician so 485-445 mya.

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I wish the Trilobites had survived . It would be kind of cool having them around.

 

[LostCosmonaut]

I wish the Trilobites had survived . It would be kind of cool having them around.

My unattainable dream is to keep some trilobites in a fish tank, and watch them scurry around the substrate! I think they'd be adorable.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I’d like Rhizodont, Dumkleosteus and/or Leedsichthys (sp?) to still swim in our waters.

In John Langan’s exceptional The Fisherman, there is Leviathan which he based on these kind of fishes.

Another vote for trilobites - fantastic creatures.

And I'm lucky enough to have found a few fossils.

I think of horseshoe crabs as trilobite 2.0.