10 Massive Prehistoric Animals That Could Tear Your Face Off

From elephant-sized sloths to giant flightless birds that could have swallowed you whole. Join us as we countdown 10 massive prehistoric animals that, given the chance, would gladly rip your face off. Enjoy!

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10. Andrewsarchus

Big game, lame name. Little is known about this massive carnivore save for a single skull that was found in 1923 in Inner-Mongolia. It’s shaped like a massive wolf and weighs an astonishing 2,000 pounds which is over 900 kgs. Given its very large jaws, it could have hunted enormous prey and bitten through the shells of massive prehistoric turtles.

9. Short Faced Bear

Also called Arctodus, this particular bear weighed about 2,000 pounds (900 kgs) and was up to 15 feet long (4.5 metres) making it larger than polar bears. Inhabiting what is now North America, these huge beasts were most likely big meat eaters, consuming nearly 35 lbs (16 kgs) of flesh per day to survive. Their long hind legs allowed them to run at speeds of 30 to 40 miles per hour (50 – 70 km/h) which meant they may have been able to chase down wild horses and saiga antelopes. However, many scientists believe that these enormous creatures may have used their size to intimidate and scare smaller animals away from their kills, moving in to steal their meal.

8. Basilosaurus

This massive prehistoric animal is part of a genus of early whales that existed some 40 to 34 million years ago. When first discovered it was thought to be some kind of giant reptile, hence the suffix -saurus, however is was later classified as a marine mammal. Scientists have estimated this aquatic predator would have had a ridiculously strong bite-force. Crunching it’s prey with with the pressure of more than 1600 kgs  Despite weighing 60 tons, the Basilosaurus is not the biggest whale to have ever lived, that honor goes to the still-present Blue Whale which weighs up to 200 tons.

7. Dire Wolf

Dire Wolves are a carnivorous mammal that went extinct around 10,000 years ago. They are roughly the same height as a modern grey wolf but had a much heavier build. The Dire Wolf’s bite-force would have been more than double the strength of a grey wolf which they would use to hold down their prey, ripping flesh from bone.  

6. Gigantopithecus

The largest species of apes ever to exist were not the size of the fabled King Kong, but they did stand nearly ten feet tall (3 metres) and weighed around 1,200 pounds (540 kgs). While these enormous beasts would have easily had the size and strength to rip your face clean off their diet mainly consisted of seeds, fruits and other fibrous flora. Some scientists speculate that these creatures walked on two feet like we do and so many believe that some have survived deep in forests and jungles, giving rise to the ‘Yeti’ and ‘Bigfoot’ legends. However, it’s more likely that the last of their kind died out around 100,000 years ago.

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