Extinct animals size

[Catherine]

I like the look of Camarasaurus. I wonder if he moved his tail when he walked. 

I noticed where the fossils are found and it is the same places the other species are found. The North American badlands are rich with fossils. Many of these dinosaurs will have better specimens soon. People are still out there searching.   Maybe not at this exact moment. It is really cold out there right now. Come the spring they will be back out searching.

[SameerluvAnimals]

(12-19-2019, 04:21 PM)Catherine Wrote: I like the look of Camarasaurus. I wonder if he moved his tail when he walked. 

I noticed where the fossils are found and it is the same places the other species are found. The North American badlands are rich with fossils.

Thanks, i just wanted to give a different coloration. It's amazing that the North American badlands are rich with fossils.




Carcharodontosaurus was among the massive carnivorous dinosaurs. The 'shark toothed lizard' had enormous jaws, deadly serrated teeth up to eight inches long. Carcharodontosaurus was nearly as large as or similar in size to t-rex and spinosaurus. It was about 12–13 m (39–43 ft) long and weighed 6 - 8 tonnes.

Fossils have been found in Africa (Algeria, Egypt and Morocco).

[Catherine]

Quote:It's amazing that the North American badlands are rich with fossils.

The area was a great inland sea and it was rich with food  and enough space for many  dinosaurs to roam. 

Carcharodontosaurus would have been a powerful predator. I notice that the fossils are found in a different fossil rich area.
I wonder if the dinosaurs evolved differently in different parts of the world.

[SameerluvAnimals]

The Cave bear had a heavily built body with a large head, domed skull and the jaws bore distinctive teeth, which suggests that the animal was largely vegetarian. Cave bears were comparable in size to the largest modern-day bears. Male cave bears weighed about 400 –600 kg.




The European or Eurasian cave lion was one of the biggest cats of all time. It was 10% larger than modern African lion and slightly smaller than the American lion. The Cave lion weighed upto 317 kg.




The cave hyena is one of the best known mammals of the Ice Age. It was a highly specialized animal, with its progressive and regressive features being more developed than in its modern African relative. The European cave hyena was larger than its modern African cousin, having been estimated to weigh 102 kg.

[Catherine]

I am surprised. I thought the cave bear was much bigger. In my mind something called a cave bear should be twice that size.
I didn't think about it being vegetarian either.  
The cave lion and cave hyena are much larger than I expected. They would have been serious predators. Do they know what they ate?

[SameerluvAnimals]

(01-06-2020, 05:32 PM)Catherine Wrote: I am surprised. I thought the cave bear was much bigger. In my mind something called a cave bear should be twice that size. The cave lion and cave hyena are much larger than I expected. They would have been serious predators. Do they know what they ate?

You have to be kidding me, that is in fact a large size for a bear. Of course this is not the maximum size for bears. There are short faced bears which are taller and heavier than cave bear and their legs are longer and somewhat leaner while the cave bear is heavily built and it is about the size of the modern Kodiak bear. Cave bear is one of my favorite animals. Indeed the cave lion is big and a serious predator while the largest lion is the American lion which is slightly bigger the cave lion. 
     You seriously don't want to go inside the caves when they lived. There is evidence that these 3 animals fought !

Below is a link to a battle between a cave bear and a cave lion from one of the episodes of ice age giants. I have seen that documentary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9qxCGqA28M

[Catherine]

I am used to the Kodiak bears and I thought the cave bear would be much bigger. It is still a big bear. Our smaller black bears are still a good size. Some of our polar bears look very big. The cave bear looks like it was a solidly built animal. 

The cave lion makes me think of the Cougar more than the African Lions.

Caves were definitely not a safe place to live or even enter. Too many big animals used caves as dens. I would be careful of a cave even now.

[SameerluvAnimals]

(01-09-2020, 05:09 PM)Catherine Wrote: I am used to the Kodiak bears and I thought the cave bear would be much bigger. It is still a big bear. Our smaller black bears are still a good size. 

Caves were definitely not a safe place to live or even enter. Too many big animals used caves as dens. I would be careful of a cave even now.

Black bears are average sized bears, they are somewhat smaller than the African lion. Indeed polar bears are big, they are the largest bears alive today and the next is kodiak bear. You are lucky that you have seen the Kodiak bears. Of course caves are a dangerous place.




The American Lion is perhaps the largest lion in history. It weighed about 250 - 350 kg or more, thus it was about 25% larger than the modern African lion. It was smaller than its contemporary competitor, the giant short- faced bear, arctodus simus which was the largest carnivoran of North America at the time and larger than the saber-toothed cat, smilodon fatalis. The American lion is one of the largest felids, along with smilodon populator but the latter is heavily built. 

Fossils have been found in North America.




The dire wolf is one of the largest canine that ever lived. It was about 5 ft in length and weighed 60 - 110 kg. The dire wolf had a heavier build, it is a sturdier version of the modern gray wolf.

Fossils have been found in North America (Los Angeles) and South  America (Bolivia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela).

[Catherine]

The American Lion is a solid looking creature. I bet it was graceful when it moved and could be very fast when it needed to chase something.

The Dire wolf is magnificent. A pack of Dire wolves hunting would have been a fearsome sight. I am sorry we lost this species. All our wolves are beautiful and we need them. We could use Dire wolves now. They would be a tremendous force for balancing ecosystems.

[SameerluvAnimals]

Arctodus Simus is one of the largest carnivorous mammal and one of the largest bears that ever lived. It weighed about 700 to 800 kg and on rare occasions few individuals may have approached 1 tonne. Arctodus simus stood about 2.4 – 3.7 m (8 –12 ft) tall on hind legs.  A large individual would have a 4.3 m (14 ft) vertical arm reach. When walking on all fours, it stood about 1.5 –1.8 m (5 – 6 ft) high at the shoulder and would be tall enough to look a human in the eye.

Fossils have been found in North America.