Fun Ancient Earth Facts!
Fish Guys
Not Quite Dinos
Ancient Mammals
Not Quite Extinct
100
This tree is considered a living fossil having first appeared in the fossil records over 170 million years ago. It looks almost identical to its ancient counterpart, and is widely planted throughout the world though it originated in East Asia.
What is the Ginkgo biloba!
100
This very ancient lobe finned fish lived during the Devonian Period around 375 million years ago. A close relative to all animals, including humans, this fish represents a crucial evolutionary step from a world full of fish to land-living animals.
What is Tiktaalik!
100
This flying reptile is often mistakenly called a dinosaur, though it is not! They are considered the first vertebrates to be able to fly (that we know of)! Bonus points if you can name the one specific species of this reptile that is commonly used in pop-culture!
What is Pterosaurs!
Bonus answer: Pteranodon!
100
This fuzzy critter is definitely one of the most famous ancient mammals. It is most well known for its two long front teeth, and though it is often called a cat it is not closely related to todays felines at all. It was of the subfamily Machairodontinae, which diverted from the acnestors of living cats roughly 20 million years ago.
What is the Smilodon or Saber-toothed Tiger!
100
These ancient fish from the Devonian period, over 410 million years ago, were thought to have gone extinct by the late Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago due to their disappearance from the fossil records. However, a living one was first discovered in 1938.
What is the Coelacanth!
200
Before trees even existed on Earth these massive organisms, considered giant fungi, helped break down rock to form the first primitive soils, paving the way for future plants! They were the first giant organism to live on the dry land, growing up to 1 meter (3 feet) wide and 8 meters (26 feet) tall.
What are Prototaxites!
200
This extinct ancient fish genus lived in what is now Europe in the Jurassic period and is one of the earliest teleost (ray finned) fish. Teleost fish represent 96% of all existing living fish!
What is Leptolipis!
200
This prehistoric synapsid is often mistaken for a dinosaur given its reptilian appearance and the large sail on its back. It lived roughly 50-40 million years before the first dinosaurs!
What is Dimetrodon!
200
This massive terrestrial critter is a distant relative of todays living rhinos, and is known as the largest land mammal of all time! Though they are closely related to rhinos they lacked the trademark horn and instead had a long neck almost like a giraffe that let them eat high up in the trees.
What is Paraceratherium!
200
This family of spiders from Madagascar, South Africa and Australia was thought to have gone extinct by the Eocene epoch. Rediscovered in 1881 alive in Madagascar, these unique spiders have elongated jaws and necks that allow them to catch their prey easier. The exclusively eat other spiders!
What is the Assassin Spider or Pelican Spider!
300
This ancient group of organisms is the ancestor to the very first land plants, evolving to live on land as what ressembled moss 470-500 million years ago. This group of organisms is still around today and can be found in many waters.
What is Green Algae!
300
This ancient shark lived from the Early to Middle Permian, about 290-270 million years ago. It was very unique in its appearance with a spiral shaped tooth whorl on its lower jaw. It used this saw-like tooth whorl to catch, slice and process its prey!
What is the Heliocoprion!
300
This Late Cretaceous Period marine reptile group dominated the seas during its time alive, roughly 90-66 million years ago! Often mistaken for a dinosaur, these marine reptiles were specialized predators who closest living relative is the Komodo Dragon. What separates this critter from a dinosaur is its long, streamlined body and paddle-like limbs that it used to move quickly through the water and hunt prey, like cephalopods.
What is the Mosasaur!
300
This ancient ancestor to modern-day artiodactyls (deer, sheep, llamas, etc.) has a name relating in to modern day pigs, though they are related more closely to hippos and whales. Having been around roughly 38-16 million years ago this pig-like critter grew to be the size of a cow and had huge jaws that it used to hunt animals with, including prehistoric rhinos!
What is the Archaeotherium or Hell Pig!
300
This little marsupial (animals that generally have a pouch, like kangaroos or koalas) was thought to have gone extinct 11 million years ago. It was found alive in 1894 and is the sole surviving member of its family, living in South America. It is roughly 8-13 cm long and mainly live in trees.
What is the Monito del monte!
400
This group of bacteria are considered the first organisms to have ever produced oxygen. Dating back to roughly 3 billion years ago, this bacteria still exists today and is frequently a reason why lakes are closed off in the summers.
What is Cyanobacteria or blue-green algae!
400
This ancient, armoured fish that lived about 382-358 million years ago, had bladed jaws instead of teeth and was first thought to be about 9 meters long. More recent estimates place its size at around 5 meters long, with an ability to open and close its jaw very quickly to create suction that would bring prey in.
What is Dunkleosteus!
400
Previously called "false crocodiles", this clade (a group of organisms that have a single common ancestor) first appeared in the Triassic period and includes modern cocodilians, alligators, and many extinct relatives. They dominated the land after the Permian-Triassic extinction event called the Great Dying 252 million years ago, eventually almost dying out in the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event.
What is Pseudosuchians!
400
These ancient marsupials (pouch having animals) lived roughly 10 to 3 million years ago in the Upper Miocene period. Often mistaken for a saber toothed cat, these marsupials grew to be about the size of todays jaguars or leopards, making them one of the largest marsupials to exist, that we know of. They were ferocious predators that focused on the soft tissues of its prey, much like todays cheetahs!
What is the Thylacosmilus!
400
This mollusc was thought to have gone extinct 375 million years ago, though it was discovered in 1952 to have been still alive in the deep waters of Costa Rica! Its name means "bearing one plate" and it has a cap-like shell, though it is not a gastropod.
What is Monoplacophora!
500
These fish are one of the oldest living species on the planet, with the oldest fossils dating back to 450 million years ago. They were around 100 million years before dinosaurs, 100 million years before trees, 300-350 millions years before grass and 300-400 million years before the rings of Saturn formed!
What are Sharks!
500
This ancient fish lived during the Ordovician period, roughly 450-470 million years ago. They are classified as armoured jawless fish (jaws did not evolve until about 420 million years ago) and have been found to have lived in the southern shallow supercontinent Gondwana it what is modern day Bolivia. A recreation of what it may have looked like was also a meme a couple of years ago.
What is Sacabambaspis!
500
This genus (group of closely related species that share common features) of plesiosaur (marine reptiles with long necks) is known for being very very long, with its neck measuring in at 19 feet long, together with its body making it 35.6 feet long and weighing more than 4.44 metric tons. They had over 62 vertebrae (neck bones)!
What is Thalassomedon!
500
This early genus of cetacean (todays whales, dolphins, etc.) has a name that translates to "mother whale" and is the representation of the transition of some land mammals back to the water. They had 4 limbs and were semi-aquatic, meaning they lived both on land and in water!
What is the Maiacetus!
500
This dolphin was tought to be extinct after a fossilized skull was found and described in 1846. First discovered as being a living species in 1861 when a caracass washed up on the shore, these dolphins reach a length of 20m long and are named for their resemblance to another dolphin!
What is the False Killer Whale!
