All articles tagged with #prehistoric predators
Scientists discovered 29-million-year-old fossilized footprints of a cat-like predator in Oregon's volcanic ash, providing rare behavioral insights into ancient life and demonstrating how volcanic eruptions can preserve delicate traces of prehistoric animals, with modern digital techniques enhancing study and preservation.
Haast's eagle, the largest eagle ever known with a 3-meter wingspan and tiger paw-sized feet, lived in New Zealand and primarily preyed on moa, large flightless birds. It went extinct around 500-600 years ago following the moa's extinction, and its impressive size and hunting tactics made it a formidable predator of its time.
A new dinosaur species named Shri rapax, related to Velociraptor, has been discovered with notably larger and more robust claws on its thumbs, suggesting it was adapted to hunt larger prey and had a stronger bite, highlighting differences from its relatives and adding to our understanding of prehistoric predator diversity.
A fossil discovery at La Venta in Colombia provides rare evidence of interactions between two ancient apex predators, a giant caiman and a terror bird, suggesting they may have preyed on each other more often than previously thought, especially near water sources during the Miocene epoch.
Fossil evidence suggests that a 13 million-year-old terror bird in Colombia was killed and possibly eaten or scavenged by a juvenile caiman, challenging previous assumptions about predator-prey relationships in prehistoric ecosystems.
Fossilized bite marks on a giant terror bird's leg suggest it was preyed upon or scavenged by a massive caiman around 12 million years ago, revealing complex predator-prey interactions in ancient South American ecosystems.
A groundbreaking discovery of the first soft tissue fossil of a giant ichthyosaur from 183 million years ago reveals new features like chondroderms, which suggest the ichthyosaur was a stealthy, apex predator. This find challenges previous understanding of these marine reptiles, offering insights into their hunting strategies, evolution, and ecological role in the Jurassic seas.
A 16-inch skull of the giant saber-toothed tiger Smilodon populator found in Uruguay reveals these animals were larger than previously thought, weighing up to 960 pounds, and capable of hunting large prey during the Pleistocene era.
Newly discovered fossil footprints of terror birds, giant carnivorous birds that roamed South America between 53 million and 18,000 years ago, reveal that these avian predators used a similar hunting tactic to earlier dinosaurs like Velociraptor. The footprints suggest that terror birds balanced their weight on two toes while using a third toe to pin down their prey. The findings also indicate that terror birds were fast runners and likely used their feet to kick at and pin smaller prey, while using their large, hooked beaks to tear off pieces. The discovery challenges the perception that terror birds primarily hunted large herbivores, suggesting they also targeted smaller prey.
Sotheby's is set to auction the fossilized skeletons of a Pteranodon and a Plesiosaur, two prehistoric predators, in New York. The Pteranodon, with a 20-foot wingspan, is expected to fetch upwards of $6 million, while the 11-foot-long Plesiosaur, believed to have lived about 190 million years ago, is estimated to sell for $600,000 to $800,000. These fossils are rare and well-preserved specimens, attracting comparisons to the Loch Ness monster. Sotheby's has not disclosed the identity of the seller.