TERRIFYING EXTINCT ANIMALS

Believe it or north america was inhabited by some of the most frightening beasts after the ice age that certainly wouldn’t want to come into contact with. During the jurassic period fierce carnivores relied on being the fastest, most intimidating and having razor sharp teeth in order for them to survive. You’ll consider yourself lucky that these frightening animals are no longer around. Subscribe to American Eye http://goo.gl/GBphkv 6.Dire Wolf One of the more well-known prehistoric cannines on this list, the dire wolf was a carnivorous predator that once roamed north america. This was the largest species of wolf to walk the earth and hunting in packs, they were nearly unstoppable. They could take down prey 10 times their size and fight off other predators twice their size. A baby woolly mammoth wouldn’t stand a chance against a pack of raging dire wolves. Some of the largest collections of fossils from this animal come from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits of Los Angeles. Dire wolves would often try to attack animals that got stuck in tar pits, thinking they were an easy target and then get trapped themselves. They existed and thrived in large areas whether it was grasslands, forested areas, plains and so on. Their range was mainly limited to areas away from extreme temperatures. It turns out the gray wolves would survive the test of time and be better equipped to survive the megafaunal extinction event around 12,700 years ago. 5.Giant Sloths If you though sloths were already terrifying creatures, just be glad you didn’t live during the early pliocene era. These ground sloths were the size of elephants and lived anywhere from south america to as far north as Utah. They would have weighed 4 tonnes and could have measured 20 feet from head to tail. Their size would have only been exceeded by a few animals like rhinos during this time. Although the giant sloth would seem like an easy meal to animals like the saber tooth tiger or dire wolf, they had huge claws that measured 12 inches in length. The sloth flourished up until about 10500 years ago when it was likely over hunted by more the advanced human species. We had to make it to the top of the food chain and cavemen weren’t concerned with the preservation of an endangered species when survival was on the line! 4.Allosaurus This species of carnivorous dinosaur lived from 155 million to 150 million years ago. It would have looked absolutely horrifying with dozens of sharp serrated teeth and would have been 39 feet in length. It was one of the more common predators and often on top of the food chain, consuming other herbivore dinosaurs and could even eat other predators if it needed to. Similar to the direwolves it hunted in packs.Just a few of them could take down mega giants like this barosaurus trying to defend himself. Quite a few of these have been discovered in the northwestern united states in places like wyoming. Some of the best preserved specimens are named Big Al and Big Al two who are on display at the museum of the rockies and at the University of Wyoming Geological Museum. When it comes to comparing the TRex and the allosaurus, the allowsaurus had the weaker jaws of the two but it’s mouth could open up wider. 3.Deinonychus Fossils from this extinct horrifying creature have been discovered in US states including montana, utah, wyoming and oklahoma but some teeth were also found as far east as Maryland. The name translates from greek to mean terrible claw, which definitely helps it make it on this list. This type of raptor was a lot smaller than previous dinosaurs like the allosaur and can move with exceptional agitly and grace that hadn’t really been seen before the cretaceous period. There’s really creature like this in modern times. But it would possibly be like making a hybrid of a cassowary, and with the fierceness of a wolverine, The main reason it earns this name is because of the large sickle-shaped talon that’s found on the second toe of each hind foot. This species would have been about the height of a toddler but a whole lot scarier! Their razor sharp teeth could easily rip through flesh if their claws didn’t get the job done. 2.Tyrannosaurus The most horrifying well-known dinosaur known as the Tyrannosaurus rex would truly be a downright evil looking creature is we ever saw one alive. These lived 68-66 million years ago during the upper cretaceous period. The most complete skeletons we have to date would have these large reptiles measuring in at 40 feet in length and would have weighed an estimated 8 tons. The 15 feet tall creatures would have only eaten meat and even each other. Evidence seems to indicate cannibalism within this species and they would often interact with each other violently, especially when there was a lack of food. We imagine these fights being pretty epic. One thing is certain, if we ever decide to clone any of these terrifying animals, we better be careful. 1...