Giant real animals from our past (& present)
Giant real animals from our past (& present)
Giant sea scorpion http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071121/ap_ ... t_bug_ever.
Last edited by cure on Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Terror birds: 3-m tall and half a metric ton of avian rage, able to swallow a modern dog in one gulp.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... birds.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... birds.html
- LordGodefroi
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Scary, though I do wish they'd included an artist's conception or at least some photos of what fossils they DO have. The image of giant birds kung-fu kicking prey is awesome, to say the least.HuManBing wrote:Terror birds: 3-m tall and half a metric ton of avian rage, able to swallow a modern dog in one gulp.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... birds.html
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This one definitely has to be my favorite! There's just something so fantastic about a shark the size of a bus . . . ( though, of course, not if you're swimming with it . . . )LordGodefroi wrote:Megalodon, a giant pre-historic shark:
I've always wondered if Megalodons were able to jump out of the water ("breaching") like modern great whites do sometimes when hunting seals.
Wouldn't it be just amazing (and terrifying) to see an 80 foot shark do this:
or this . . .
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"I rule out nothing. Nor, I imagine, do you."
"Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside . . . "
"Hail Strahd, Lord of Barovia!"
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That reminds me of one of the best lines from Roger Zelazny's story The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth:LadySoth wrote:I've always wondered if Megalodons were able to jump out of the water ("breaching") like modern great whites do sometimes when hunting seals.
Wouldn't it be just amazing (and terrifying) to see an 80 foot shark do this:
or this . . .
"Remember, keep the helicopter thirty meters above the [ocean] surface. Not twenty meters--thirty."
[b]FEAR JUSTICE.[/b] :elena:
Giant rats, perhaps coming to a sewar near you :http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071217/ap_ ... _giant_rat
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Get this: Dire Wolves
http://www.naturalworlds.org/wolf/histo ... _dirus.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_Wolf
http://www.wolfsource.org/?page_id=110
Where I knew at least some of the 'Dire' versions of animals were based off of prehistoric versions, I didn't know that was the case for Dire wolves as well. I now feel kind of silly .
http://www.naturalworlds.org/wolf/histo ... _dirus.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_Wolf
http://www.wolfsource.org/?page_id=110
Where I knew at least some of the 'Dire' versions of animals were based off of prehistoric versions, I didn't know that was the case for Dire wolves as well. I now feel kind of silly .
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That's where 3E borrowed the "dire" title from, actually. Paleontologists had been calling those IRL extinct canids "dire wolves" all along, but up until 3E, oversized mammals in D&D were simply referred to as "giant __________", not "dire __________".
The History channel's cheesy new cryptozoology show, MonsterQuest, will evidently be discussing giant freshwater fish on Wednesday, FWIW.
The History channel's cheesy new cryptozoology show, MonsterQuest, will evidently be discussing giant freshwater fish on Wednesday, FWIW.
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Giant Squid!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... squid.html
When I was a kid, I read about these Kraken-kin in books about myths and Bigfoot. Now they're an established fact. Freaky.
Lochness Monster, you're next, buddy!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... squid.html
When I was a kid, I read about these Kraken-kin in books about myths and Bigfoot. Now they're an established fact. Freaky.
Lochness Monster, you're next, buddy!
Evil Reigns!!!!
And bigger still the Colossal Squid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Squid.
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It's not an animal, but there is a group of disorders that is sometimes associated with Vampirism called Porphyria.
In certain cases, it can lead to pale skin, damage from sunlight, larger looking teeth, and anemia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire#Pathology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyria# ... nd_history
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddisease ... /index.htm
Or for an even creepier shot, check out his
In certain cases, it can lead to pale skin, damage from sunlight, larger looking teeth, and anemia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire#Pathology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyria# ... nd_history
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddisease ... /index.htm
I think it was just last year that actual footage of a live one was taken. I saw the shot (it was only a few seconds) in my Invertebrate Zoology class, but unfortunately couldn't find it on Youtube. What's even creepier is the experimentation going on to demonstrate cephalopod intelligence, particularily in Octopi and Cuddlefish. We know VERY little about the deepest parts of the ocean, leaving plenty of room for a humanoid, amoral Cephalopod with rudimentary wings to come and take over the world.When I was a kid, I read about these Kraken-kin in books about myths and Bigfoot. Now they're an established fact. Freaky.
Or for an even creepier shot, check out his
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Octopi are to date capable of:
-Opening a container to get a fish.
-Opening your drink for you
-Taking on and killing a shark greater than it's size
-And Bipedal Walking (<--- )
-Opening a container to get a fish.
-Opening your drink for you
-Taking on and killing a shark greater than it's size
-And Bipedal Walking (<--- )
No one's yet mentioned the giant rat of Suma^H^H^H^H Indonesia yet? Okay, it's still small by dire animal standards, but it's a pretty hefty rattie.