Giant real animals from our past (& present)

[cure]

Giant sea scorpion http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071121/ap_ ... t_bug_ever.

[HuManBing]

Terror birds: 3-m tall and half a metric ton of avian rage, able to swallow a modern dog in one gulp.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... birds.html

[LordGodefroi]

Megalodon, a giant pre-historic shark:

[JinnTolser]

Terror birds: 3-m tall and half a metric ton of avian rage, able to swallow a modern dog in one gulp.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... birds.html

Scary, though I do wish they'd included an artist's conception or at least some photos of what fossils they DO have. The image of giant birds kung-fu kicking prey is awesome, to say the least.

[LadySoth]

Megalodon, a giant pre-historic shark:

This one definitely has to be my favorite! There's just something so fantastic about a shark the size of a bus . . . ( though, of course, not if you're swimming with it . . . )

I've always wondered if Megalodons were able to jump out of the water ("breaching") like modern great whites do sometimes when hunting seals.

Wouldn't it be just amazing (and terrifying) to see an 80 foot shark do this:



or this . . .

[Nathan of the FoS]

I've always wondered if Megalodons were able to jump out of the water ("breaching") like modern great whites do sometimes when hunting seals.

Wouldn't it be just amazing (and terrifying) to see an 80 foot shark do this:



or this . . .

That reminds me of one of the best lines from Roger Zelazny's story The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth:

"Remember, keep the helicopter thirty meters above the [ocean] surface. Not twenty meters--thirty."

[cure]

Giant rats, perhaps coming to a sewar near you :http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071217/ap_ ... _giant_rat

[Undead Cabbage]

Get this: Dire Wolves
http://www.naturalworlds.org/wolf/histo ... _dirus.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_Wolf
http://www.wolfsource.org/?page_id=110

Where I knew at least some of the 'Dire' versions of animals were based off of prehistoric versions, I didn't know that was the case for Dire wolves as well. I now feel kind of silly .

[Rotipher of the FoS]

That's where 3E borrowed the "dire" title from, actually. Paleontologists had been calling those IRL extinct canids "dire wolves" all along, but up until 3E, oversized mammals in D&D were simply referred to as "giant __________", not "dire __________".

The History channel's cheesy new cryptozoology show, MonsterQuest, will evidently be discussing giant freshwater fish on Wednesday, FWIW.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Giant Squid!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... squid.html

When I was a kid, I read about these Kraken-kin in books about myths and Bigfoot. Now they're an established fact. Freaky.

Lochness Monster, you're next, buddy!

[cure]

And bigger still the Colossal Squid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Squid.

[Undead Cabbage]

It's not an animal, but there is a group of disorders that is sometimes associated with Vampirism called Porphyria.

In certain cases, it can lead to pale skin, damage from sunlight, larger looking teeth, and anemia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire#Pathology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyria# ... nd_history
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddisease ... /index.htm

When I was a kid, I read about these Kraken-kin in books about myths and Bigfoot. Now they're an established fact. Freaky.

I think it was just last year that actual footage of a live one was taken. I saw the shot (it was only a few seconds) in my Invertebrate Zoology class, but unfortunately couldn't find it on Youtube. What's even creepier is the experimentation going on to demonstrate cephalopod intelligence, particularily in Octopi and Cuddlefish. We know VERY little about the deepest parts of the ocean, leaving plenty of room for a humanoid, amoral Cephalopod with rudimentary wings to come and take over the world.



Or for an even creepier shot, check out his

[Undead Cabbage]

Octopi are to date capable of:

-Opening a container to get a fish.
-Opening your drink for you
-Taking on and killing a shark greater than it's size
-And Bipedal Walking (<--- )

[Brandi]

No one's yet mentioned the giant rat of Suma^H^H^H^H Indonesia yet? Okay, it's still small by dire animal standards, but it's a pretty hefty rattie.

[HuManBing]

Seventh post down.

But your post has pictures, which is frankly disturbing! Who'd want a rat that size crawling boldly into their camp!

*shivers*