mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
The Pleistocene Era began 1.8 million years ago and ended roughly 10,000 years ago. During that period were several Ice Ages. Many giant sized animals and birds that seem familiar to us (because they resemble modern animals) roamed the earth. They became extinct, possibly due to environmental conditions or disease, or possibly because they were hunted by humans.
Irish Elk
The Irish Elk (Megaloceros) is the largest deer species ever, although it was not an elk, nor was it exclusively Irish. Megaloceros ranged across Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. The biggest specimens are seven feet tall at the shoulder and have antlers that span 12 feet! It became known as the Irish Elk because the Irish would find remains in peat bogs and display the antlers in hunting lodges as if they bagged the beast themselves. Because of its wide geographic range, it is not known when the last of these deer died out.
Giant Short-Faced Bear
The Giant Short-Faced Bear (Arctodus simus) had the ability to run on his two long hind legs, and may have reached a running speed of 40 miles per hour! It would have been a frightening sight, as this bear stood five feet tall on four legs, but rose to 12 feet when standing up. It lived in the western US, Canada, and Alaska.
Syrian Camel
The fossil bones of giant Syrian Camel was only discovered two years ago in central Syria. The 12-feet-tall at the shoulder bones are around 100,000 years old. Previously, scientists thought camels had only existed in the Middle East for about 10,000 years.
Giant Sloths
The Giant Ground Sloth (Megatherium americanum) weighed five tons and stood 12 feet tall on its hind legs! Native to South America, it ate tree leaves like its descendants, the modern sloths, but was way too heavy to climb. There were several other species of large ground sloths that inhabited North America, none as large as Megatherium. Although giant sloths died out 10,000 years ago, the last species of ground sloths may have survived until 1550 AD in the Caribbean.
Saber Toothed Tiger
There were several species of Saber Toothed Tiger (Smilodon) in both North and South America during the Ice Age. The largest, Smilodon populator lived in Brazil and had canine teeth up to seven inches long. It probably weighed about 800 pounds, the size of a modern lion. Saber toothed cats are believed to have co-existed with humans for about a thousand years, and may have been hunted to extinction.
North American Lion
The North American Lion (Panthera leo atrox) was bigger than the Smilodon species, but hasn’t gotten as much press because there are not as many fossil specimens, or maybe because they had proportionally normal sized teeth for a big cat. They were still big teeth, since the largest lions were over eight feet long! (Image: Dantheman9758)
Giant Beaver
The Giant Beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) wins the prize for the largest rodent, at least in North America. Skeletal remains have been found indicating the animal was about nine feet long. Although they didn’t have the characteristic flat tail of the modern beaver, they resembled their modern cousins otherwise.
Teratorn
Giant Pleistocene species weren’t limited to mammals. The Teratorn (Argentavis magnificens) was an ancestor of the Giant Condor with a wingspan of 19 to 28 feet! With wings folded, it stood as tall as a man and could weigh over 200 pounds. Found in Argentina, it was the largest flying bird ever known.
Mastodon
Mastodons (Mammut americanum) were not mammoths, although both were hairy, resemble elephants, and roamed North America until ten thousand years ago. Mastodons ate from trees, while mammoths grazed on the ground. Mastodons are somewhat shorter and stockier than mammoths, reaching about ten feet tall. They weren’t any larger than elephants that exist today, but they were pretty big animals anyway.
Mammoth
The Wooly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) belonged to the same family as modern elephants, and were about the same size. They lived in Europe, Asia, and North America ranging up to the Arctic. Woolly Mammoths in the northernmost areas had hair up to three feet long, and curly tusks up to five feet long. Mammoth survived longer than other Ice Age giants, with the biggest extinction occurring about 8,000 years ago. A dwarf species survived on Wrangel Island near Siberia until about 1700 BC. (Image: Mauricio Anton)
The dinosaurs got really big, and they died out. Pleistocene mammals grew very big, and they died out. It makes you wonder… where will the human obesity epidemic lead us?
Shhh…super secret special for blog readers.
Comments (17)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
When did the Teratorn live/become extinct?!?! That looks like a picture of a person with a real one… was that even possible?
posted by Kelly J on 8-12-2008 at 7:23 am
I’m trying to figure out why they felt the need to put a girl in a bathing suit in the picture of the Giant Short-Faced Bear.
posted by Michigan Mom on 8-12-2008 at 8:25 am
Kelly J, I assumed that was a recreation, like the giant beaver exhibit.
posted by Miss Cellania on 8-12-2008 at 8:52 am
Michigan Mom, I assume that she’s there to demonstrate the grave danger these bears would have been to swimmers?
posted by Fruppi on 8-12-2008 at 9:12 am
this was a really cool article. some of these i’ve never heard of. there is evidence on various isolated islands throughout the world where animals are unusually large/small due to environmental pressures. the giant beaver reminded me of the giant rat fossils that were found on that Indonesian(?) island with the tiny human (hobbit) fossils.
posted by Claire on 8-12-2008 at 9:27 am
Some things never change. Place a giant beaver anywhere and guys will come after it.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 8-12-2008 at 11:10 am
Michigan Mom… Actually I think thats a beer commercial of some sort.
posted by MIles Tougeaux on 8-12-2008 at 12:22 pm
Teratorn is really big chicken
posted by sp on 8-13-2008 at 4:55 am
Wow that is quite fascinating indeed. Saber tooth cats must have been really cool.
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
posted by Jim McDuff on 8-13-2008 at 6:55 am
Your last comment was great. I mean, lol, true, the human obesity epidemic may mark our extinction.
posted by TheBookKeeper on 8-13-2008 at 7:42 am
I really enjoyed this entire article, the whole thing. Save the last ignorant comment.
“where will the human obesity epidemic lead us?”
The author has a biased opinion on obesity, and is too inadequately educated to know before-hand that obesity has existed for a millenia. It has always been around and to simply call it a epidemic, as if it were something recently occuring … screams prejudice.
Suggestion to the author, try to get the facts straight, instead of spouting off regurgative nonsense. Everyone has an opinion, they are all like a anus, and they all stink.
posted by Prehistoric Fan on 8-13-2008 at 1:20 pm
I meant it as a punchline. I’m not used to doing serious stuff.
posted by Miss Cellania on 8-13-2008 at 1:51 pm
Awesome post! I love reading amour these giant animals. I love pictures even more.
It is neat to know that they existed and also that we still have giant animals today. I did not know modern elephants and mammoths were the same size. Really?
Did you know the blue whale is still the largest mammal that ever lived?
The last comment was obviously a joke. LOL this is a blog not a scientific journal :)
posted by dc on 8-13-2008 at 2:59 pm
By obesity epidemic, she’s probably referring to this … http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/index.htm
Prehistoric Fan, take everything you said about the author in your post, turn it around and apply it to yourself and you’ll be much more accurate.
posted by Just some idiot on 8-13-2008 at 4:13 pm
Prehistoric Fan sounds like he/she is sensitive about obesity. Also sounds like kind of a douche. *sheesh*
posted by Dawn on 8-16-2008 at 1:02 am
I believe the Giant Beaver is related to the ROAS (Rodents of Unusual Size.) These menacing rodents prefer warm moist climates such as fireswamps.
Also, some scientists believe the Giant Beaver may in fact be related to my mother-in-law.
posted by ThatGuy on 9-24-2008 at 4:23 pm
I believe the Giant Beaver is related to the ROAS (Rodents of Unusual Size.) These menacing rodents prefer warm moist climates such as fireswamps.*
Also, some scientists believe the Giant Beaver may in fact be related to my mother-in-law.
Also the Teratorn has been sighted by Native Americans and is referred to as the Thunderbird or Piasa, The Bird that Devours Men (Again, not to be confused with my mother-in-law.) Also in modern history there have been many reported sightings as well; even as recent as 2002 in Alaska.
For the naysayers, there could have not been a legend in existence without experience upon which it was based. And I beleive it has already been established that the Teratorn existed (or still exists) along with humans.
*All comments regarding the ROAS are not factual and are intended purely for entertainment purposes. Comments about my mother-in-law however are entirely factual and if anything, understated.
posted by That Guy on 9-24-2008 at 4:32 pm