Buzz
Evolution unfolds gradually and unpredictably, making small alterations here and there, eventually resulting in entirely new life forms over vast periods of time. While some of these changes may seem mundane or unimpressive, others are so bizarre they could easily earn a spot in the prehistoric hall of fame.
Considering the dramatic transformations some creatures have undergone over eons, it raises an interesting question: How will today’s animals evolve in the future? Will they appear just as strange to future generations as prehistoric creatures seem to us now?
10. Prehistoric Amphibians With Thousands of Hook-Like ‘Teeth’
While modern amphibians lack teeth, their ancient ancestors, dating back 300 million years, possessed some of the most terrifying mouths nature has ever created.
Most vertebrate teeth are neatly positioned on the hard palate’s bones. However, prehistoric amphibians had bony plates covering their soft palate as well, lining the entire roof of the mouth with thousands of denticles (tiny hook-like teeth) alongside rows of menacing fangs.
These gruesome teeth were used by amphibians to snatch up prey and hold it in place while the amphibian lowered its eyes into its mouth to aid in forcing the struggling victim down its slippery throat.
9. The Baby Bird Dinosaur
A 99-million-year-old baby bird encased in a glob of Burmese amber stands as the most perfectly preserved specimen of its kind.
This toothed bird, an avian dinosaur, lived alongside other dinosaurs and met the same fate when the entire Enantiornithes group went extinct 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period. Consequently, it is believed that no descendants of the Enantiornithes remain today.
The bird was only a few days old when it was tragically trapped in a mass of tree resin. Fortunately for researchers, enough of it remained to allow the creation of a remarkably detailed, full 3-D model using CT scanning technology.
The bird’s wing feathers appear capable of flight, while its body feathers are similar to those of theropods. This suggests that this avian dinosaur may have hatched fully fledged, ready to take to the skies, unlike the vulnerable baby birds we see today.
8. Arachnids With Tails
A variety of eerie, creepy creatures scurried about the feet of dinosaurs, including a spider-like creature with a tail that roamed tropical forests around 100 million years ago.
Measuring less than 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in length, Chimerarachne yingi is considered the ‘missing link’ in the arachnid family, possessing features that connect proto-spiders with modern spiders. The most striking feature is its unsettling tail, half the length of its body, covered in short hairs, likely serving as a sensory organ to detect other critters.
Additionally, it had silk-producing spinnerets, a feature absent in its spider ancestors, which it may have used to line its burrow or encase its eggs.
7. Rainbow-Frocked Iridescent Dinosaurs
Researchers have unearthed one of the most dazzling dinosaurs, named Caihong juji (Mandarin for “rainbow with the big crest”), thanks to its vibrant, colorful rainbow crest.
This birdlike dinosaur features a velociraptor-shaped head and neck, both adorned with a multicolored ruffle that would have been striking in the pre-flowering Jurassic period. While its eye-catching display may have made it a more visible target, it relied on its radiant plumage to attract potential mates, much like a peacock today.
The 161-million-year-old specimen is not only the earliest known creature to exhibit hummingbird-like iridescence, but also the first with asymmetrical feathers at its wing tips, a feature that grants modern birds exceptional control in flight.
6. Scissor-Handed Sea Creatures
The scissor-like claws of Kooteninchela deppi earned it the honor of being the first prehistoric creature named after Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Edward Scissorhands.
The 505-million-year-old fossil appears to be a strange hybrid between a lobster and a millipede, complete with stalked, multi-lensed eyes, though it predates the lobsters and scorpions it is related to.
It inhabited shallow coastal waters that were much warmer than today’s. Although capable of swimming when needed, it preferred to crawl along the seafloor using its many stubby, millipede-like legs, scavenging or snatching unsuspecting prey with its scissor-like hands.
5. Jigsaw Puzzle Insects
Coxoplectoptera is so unique in evolutionary history that it has been assigned a completely new taxonomic order.
Coxoplectoptera existed during the Lower Cretaceous period (146 million to 100 million years ago) and was a distant relative of mayflies. However, its appearance is nothing like a mayfly or any other insect known to science.
Its wings are veined like a mayfly's, yet the rest of its body, including its thorax, is dragonfly-shaped. Most disturbingly, it has the legs of a praying mantis. Much like a mantis, it likely ambushed its prey, probably hiding in river mud.
4. Human-Size Penguins
Over the course of millions of years, penguins have shrunk in size, with their largest species, the emperor penguin, standing at only 122 centimeters (4’0″).
However, researchers have recently uncovered a 55- to 60-million-year-old relative, Kumimanu biceae, which was as large as a hefty human adult. This ancient penguin reached a towering 170 centimeters (5’7″) and weighed a solid 100 kilograms (220 lb).
This makes it already twice the size of penguins from just a few million years earlier. It appears that penguins grew rapidly in size after they separated from flying birds and abandoned the skies in favor of the seas, likely around the time the dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago.
3. Toothless Vacuum-Mouthed Dolphins
Inermorostrum xenops, a newly identified extinct dolphin species, offers an extraordinary glimpse into the early stages of cetacean evolution, particularly in its feeding methods. It holds the title of being the earliest suction feeder discovered to date.
This 1.2-meter-long (4 ft) miniature dolphin prowled the seas 30 million years ago. Smaller than modern dolphins and quite unusual, it had a stubby, toothless snout, expanded lips, and possibly whiskers.
Much like its modern relatives, this dolphin had echolocation abilities. However, lacking teeth, it fed by sucking up food like a vacuum cleaner. Similar to a walrus, Inermorostrum xenops would cruise the seafloor, hoovering up fish and squid.
2. Pineapple-Armored Herbivores
A nearly flawless Borealopelta markmitchelli fossil has been celebrated as one of the most remarkable finds in paleontology.
This 110-million-year-old creature resembled a walking fortress, with a massive, 1.5-ton, nearly 6-meter-long (20 ft) body, heavily armored and adorned with spikes and horns reminiscent of a giant pineapple, including 51-centimeter-long (20 in) shoulder spikes.
After its body sank to the ocean floor, it was quickly covered by sediment, preserving some of its red melanin pigment. The resulting ginger coloration created a striking contrast between its back and belly, offering this lumbering yet frequently hunted dinosaur a natural camouflage for protection.
1. Eyeless Ticks That Grow Eight Times Larger
While the history of ticks is often fragmented, it has been enriched by the discovery of a batch of bloodsucking parasites preserved in nearly 100-million-year-old amber.
Deinocroton draculi (Latin for “Dracula’s terrible tick”) was a bloodthirsty creature with no eyes. One specimen, discovered right after feeding, had swollen to eight times its normal size. Even more fortunate, the amber also captured a bit of dinosaur feather from its meal.
Although the exact type of dinosaur feather remains unknown, it does not resemble the feathers of modern birds, suggesting that these ticks may have plagued (or at least bothered) the formidable dinosaurs themselves.
