We all know about the size of dinosaurs, but how would you feel witnessing a rat the size of a bull, a sea scorpion larger than a human, a toad the size of a beach ball, a penguin as tall as an average adult, or a pouch mammal resembling a sloth weighing 1,000 pounds, and a shark over 50 feet long weighing 30 times more than today’s great white shark?
Astonishing Creatures: The Largest Monsters in History
These monsters really existed, although they did not coexist in the same place or at the same time.
1. The Largest Snake Fossil Discovered in a Colombian Coal Mine
(Illustration of the Titanoboa cerejonensis monster by Jason Bourque/Nature)
According to an article in National Geographic, the largest snake ever to exist was a monster resembling a gigantic South American boa that slithered through the humid tropical forests 60 million years ago. Its diet consisted of ancient crocodiles.
John Roach stated: “Fossils discovered at the Cerrejon coal mine in northeastern Colombia show that this reptile was at least 42 feet (13 meters) long and weighed up to 2,500 pounds (1,135 kg).”
The image above compares a vertebra of the Titanoboa with the body size of a modern Python regius. In the image below, the vertebra of an adult green anaconda looks like a “dwarf” compared to the vertebra of the ancient Titanoboa cerrejonensis (Top image: Jason Head; Bottom image: Kenneth Krysko).
The boa likely killed its prey by suffocating them, wrapping around the victim and tightening just like modern-day South American pythons. However, this ancient monster was twice the size of the largest modern predator.
Humans would not stand a chance against this giant snake, according to Hans-Dieter Sues, a paleontologist and director of research and collections at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He said: “With a size like that, it’s like a machine used to crush old cars at a junkyard.”
2. A Rodent the Size of a Bull
(Image: Image courtesy of the Royal Society)
The image shows the enormous skull of a prehistoric rat weighing up to 1 ton compared alongside a modern rat. The image was published on January 16, 2008.
National Geographic News reported: “The skull, measuring 21 inches (53 cm), was discovered in Uruguay beneath layers of soil in the San José region by an amateur fossil hunter. Analysis of this bizarre fossil revealed it belonged to a species the size of a bull, hence it was named Josephoartigasia monesi.”
Researchers state that the “super rat” lived in lowland rainforests around 2 to 4 million years ago and likely used its massive sharp teeth to fend off saber-toothed cats or large flightless predatory birds.
This newly discovered species was announced in a study by Andrés Rinderknecht from the National Museum of Natural History about Anthropology in Montevideo, Uruguay. The title of the largest rodent in the world was previously held by a creature whose fossil was discovered in Venezuela in 2003, which was the size of a buffalo.
3. Fossil of the “Giant Hell Toad” Discovered in Madagascar
(Illustration: Luci Betti-Nash, Stony Brook University)
Scientists working in Madagascar have discovered what may be the largest toad ever to exist on Earth.
The feisty Beelzebufo, also known as the “devil toad,” was a rather frightening creature about the size of a beach ball. It stood 16 inches (40 cm) tall and weighed approximately 10 pounds (4.5 kg).
Paleontologist David from Stony Brook University in New York, along with colleagues, began excavating the small parts of this 70 million-year-old toad to create specimens more than a decade ago. “Over the years, the puzzle consisting of 75 pieces has come together thanks to the expertise of toad fossil specialist Susan Evans from University College London.”
Evans, the lead author of the publication, noted that like its closest modern relatives today – the group of wide-mouthed frogs in South America called ceratophyrines – the devil toad was likely very aggressive. “Ceratophyrines are indeed aggressive carnivores that prefer ambush. They have round bodies with large mouths, sitting still to catch anything that comes by.”
She added: “Sometimes they are even called Pac-Man frogs. They are two to three times larger than the biggest ceratophyrines alive today. Beelzebufo likely had many more features.”
According to National Geographic News, it had protective layers along with strong jaws that helped it catch newly-hatched dinosaurs.
4. Gigantic Penguins Once Ruled the Desert of Peru
(Illustration: Kristin Lamm/courtesy PNAS)
Human-sized penguins appeared in South America about 35 million years ago, even thriving without ice.
A study led by paleontologist Julia Clarke and colleagues from the University of North Carolina discovered two species of giant penguins based on fossils excavated in the Atacama Desert in Peru, pushing back the time penguins migrated to the equatorial region by an additional 30 million years – during one of the warmest periods in the last 65 million years.
The illustration above shows the relative size of the two newly discovered giant penguin species from Peru.
“The terrifying penguin Icadyptes salasi, towering 5 feet (1.5 m) – on the right – lived about 36 million years ago, while Perudyptes devriesi – on the left – lived around 42 million years ago. These extinct species are depicted in comparison with the only surviving penguin species in Peru, Spheniscus humbolti – in the center.”
5. A Giant Sea Scorpion Larger than a Human
(Illustration: Biology Letters)
According to scientists, the fossilized claw measuring 18 inches (46 cm) – shown below – belonged to the largest creature in the world. It was a sea scorpion 390 million years old, measuring 8.2 feet (2.5 m) in length, known as Jaekelopterus rhenaniae.
“It was the size of a large crocodile; the 390 million-year-old sea scorpion was the top predator of its time. It fed on fish and even its own kind in swampy areas,” paleontologists stated.
Jaekelopterus rhenaniae reached up to 8.2 feet (2.5 m) with claws extending 18 inches (46 cm).
Paleontologist Simon Braddy from the University of Bristol, UK, remarked: “This discovery shows that arthropods – such as insects, spiders, and crustaceans with hard exoskeletons, segmented limbs, and bodies – once had sizes much larger than we previously thought. We have known that fossils reveal the existence of giant multi-legged creatures, oversized scorpions, enormous sloths, or giant dragonflies. But we never realized just how big those ancient monstrous insects could be, even until now.”
The fossilized claw of the sea scorpion was discovered at a mining site near Prüm, Germany.
6. An Ancient Giant Shark with the Most Powerful Bite in History
Fossilized teeth of Megalodon (left) placed next to a modern great white shark’s tooth. (Photo: Flip Nicklin/Minden Pictures/National Geographic)
The prehistoric shark Megalodon (literally meaning “big tooth”) had a bite force unmatched by any creature.
“Its bite was strong enough to crush a car, far exceeding the bite force of the giant great white shark or even the Tyrannosaurus rex.”
We primarily know of it through the large teeth it left behind, Carcharodon megalodon first appeared in Earth’s oceans around 16 million years ago. Its diet consisted of turtles or enormous prehistoric whales.
Researcher Stephen Wroe from the University of New South Wales in Australia stated: “The hunting strategy of the Megalodon was to bite off the tail and fins of large whales, effectively neutralizing the whale’s propulsion system.”
This prehistoric shark likely reached lengths of 50 feet (16 meters) and weighed 30 times more than the largest great white shark today.
Peter Klimley, a shark expert from the University of California, Davis, noted: “A great white shark is merely a small piece of a male Megalodon.”
7. Giant Prehistoric Kangaroo
Giant Kangaroo. (Illustration: Peter Schouten; copyright Peter Schouten)
Hunting activities on the island of Tasmania in Australia led to the extinction of several prehistoric animal species, including monstrous kangaroo-like creatures, pouch hippos, and leopard-like cats. These sloth-like marsupials that roamed the ground during prehistoric times weighed up to 1,000 pounds (500 kg) and are described as Palorchestes azael in the images. It was one of many species from Tasmania’s rich fauna that went extinct due to human activities about 40,000 years ago.
New research on this ancient kangaroo species has challenged a previous study suggesting that the Ice Age wiped out these giant creatures before humans appeared on the island.
Other species included in the study are “3 kangaroos weighing around 220 pounds (100 kg),” according to Tim Flannery from Macquarie University, Australia.
He remarked: “There once existed a pouch cat species that weighed only about 100 to 220 pounds (50 to 100 kg).”
