Top 12 Extinct Reptiles That Once Ruled the Earth

Introduction

The creatures that have taken the command on the mother earth the maximum in terms of extending their dominance on land, sea, and sky are the reptiles who have ruled the earth millions of years. Even before humans existed, these all the way to the Tyrannosaurus rex that was more than 10 feet tall and the serpent like Titanoboa, these ancient reptiles formed ecosystems. Unfortunately, most of these amazing creatures became extinct or vanished eternally due to the mass extinctions, climatic change, and the human beings influence.

1. Tyrannosaurus Rex (T. rex) – The King of Dinosaurs

Time: Late Cretaceous (68-66 million years ago)

Habitat- North America

Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) had the largest skull, the bone crushing bite (8,000 psi), and the puny arms which made it the apex predator of the Late Cretaceous. It reached 40 feet long and 9-tons and preyed on Triceratops until it went extinct 66 million years ago at the K-Pg asteroid impact.

Key Features:

• Length: Maximum of 40 feet
• Colour: 9 tons (as heavy as an elephant)
• Bite Force:8,000 pounds per square inch (strongest on land of all animals)

Diet & Behavior:

• Apex predator which preyed on Triceratops and Edmontosaurus
• Probably also a scavenger

Extinction Cause:

Destroyed in the asteroid impact at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) 66 million years ago

2. Mosasaurus – The Leviathan of the Seas

Time: Late Cretaceous (70-66 million years ago)

Habitat: World Oceans

Mosasaurus is a monstrosity of a sea creature which was 56 feet long, and it was ruler of the primordial seas due to its vicious tail and teeth which looked like daggers. It was one of the top predators which used to feed on fish and other marine reptiles alongside the sharks and it died out 66 million years ago as part of the K-Pg extinction.

Key Features:

• Length: 1-56 foot (longer than a school bus)
• Teeth: Cone shaped and serrated so that they can hold slippery prey.
• Movement: Paddle-like tail Powerful tail

Diet & Behavior:

• Eated ate fish, and sharks, even other mosasaurs
• Probably ambushed game below

Extinction Cause:

Went extinct in the K-Pg mass extinction

3. Pteranodon – The Sky Giant

Age: Late Cretaceous ( 86-84 million years)

Habitat: North America

A 23-foot wingspan would dominate the sky in Cretaceous times as pteranodon used its toothless beak to pounce on fish in flight. The crest of this flying reptile could have aided steering or courtship shows prior to its extinction via weather change and the competition of the birds.

Key Features:

• Wingspan: 20-23 feet (It is like a small plane)
• Crest: Perhaps as a mating display or aeroservicing
• Toothless beak: The fish scoop is perfect with this beak

Diet & Behavior:

• On skimmed fed oceans
• Resided in Colonies located in the ocean coastline

Extinction Cause:

Birds and climatic changes competition

4. Spinosaurus – The River Monster

Time: Cretaceous (112-93 million years ago)

North Africa

Spinosaurus was the largest carnivorous dinosaur that was known on earth with a length of 50 feet with a crocodile snout and webbed feet to hunt in the water. Maybe its showcase sail maintained body temperature as it stalked North African rivers 112-93 million years ago, since then becoming extinct as a result of catastrophic changes to its environment.

Key Features:

• Length: 50 ft.
• Sail-back: Perhaps to regulate or display temperature
• Webbed feet & crocodile snout

Diet & Behavior:

• This was mainly picultural (fish-eater)
• Small dinosaurs may have been hunted by it

Extinction Cause:

Loss of habitat and drying up of rivers

5. Dimetrodon – The Reptile That Wasn’t a Dinosaur

Time: Permian (295-272 million years ago).

Native to: North America & Europe

Ancient top predator with enormous sailback used to regulate its temperature that dominated the earth in the Permian era before the dinosaurs adopted the name Dimetrodon. Many people believe this synapsid (relative of the mammals) is a dinosaur but it was believed to have steak-knife teeth that fed on primitive reptiles in North America and Europe. Then it became extinct in the year 272 million ago and Dimetrodon is a notable transitional form of reptile to mammal.

Key Features:

• Sail-back : For thermoregualtion
• sharp, cutting teeth

Diet & Behavior:

• Apex predator of its era
• Most probably hunted first reptiles.

Extinction Cause:

Climate Change & competition

6. Quetzalcoatlus – The Largest Flying Creature Ever

Time: Late Cretaceous (68 to 66 million years ago)

Habitat: North America

Quetzalcoatlus flew in the Late Cretaceous heavens as the biggest flying beast in history, with a stature of a giraffe and a wingspan of 36 feet measuring like a small aircraft. It was a pterosaur, which is so large that it probably roamed the North American continent scavenging carcasses and killing small dinosaurs with its spear-like beak. Its era came to an end 66 million years ago, dashing off, together with the dinosaurs, in the K-Pg mass extinction.

Key Features:

• Wing span: 33-36 feet
• Lightweight flight bones Hollow bones A dual purpose b/c there is always some space between your bones even when they are not hollow, so they weigh less.

Diet & Behavior:

• Scavenged carcasses
• The small dinosaurs were possibly hunted (C.sundrabi)

Extinction Cause:

K-Pg asteroid impact

7. Archelon – The Colossal Sea Turtle

General Time: Late Cretaceous (75-65 million years ago)

Origin: North America

The largest sea turtle that ever lived was Archelon, which measured 13 feet in length and weighed more than 2.5 tons-huge compared with any current leatherback. This Late Cretaceous swimmer roamed the primordial waters of North America on its mighty flippers feeding off of jellyfish and crustaceans. Its descendants became extinct 65 million years ago as a casualty of the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Key Features:

• Length: 13 ft
• Mass: 2+ tons
• soft leathery shell (not as hard as turtles of today)

Diet & Behavior:

Eaten jellyfish and crabs

Extinction Cause:

K-Pg extinction immune system

8. Ichthyosaurus – The Reptilian Dolphin

Time Frame: Triassic-Cretaceous (250 - 90 million years ago)

Habitat: All over the world oceans

Ichthyosaurus was an oceanic dolphin-looking reptile, which lived 160 million years in the sea developing smooth bodies and hunted with large eyes in deep sea. These fish-like tailed Triassic-Cretaceous predators could reach speeds in pursuit of squid and smaller fish up to 11 feet in length. They finally went extinct 90 million years ago, usurped by more rapid evolving marine reptiles such as mosasaurs.

Key Features:

• Length 11 feet.
• Big eyes for deep-sea sight

Diet & Behavior:

Fast could swim , hunt squid, and fish.

Extinction Cause:

Outdone by mosasaurs

9. Ankylosaurus – The Living Tank

Time: Late Cretaceous (68-66 million years ago)

Habitat: North-America

The pythons have roughly no natural predators in the wild and they don’t feel any fear for crocodiles and other animals in the wild, and that’s why it is very difficult for them to escape by any large predators at all.

Key Features:

• bony plates & club tail.
• Dimensions: 30 Ft.

Diet & Behavior:

Low-browsing herbivore

Extinction Cause:

K-Pg MetesImpact

10. Megalania – The Giant Killer Lizard

Age: Pleistocene (2 million250,000 years ago)

Habitat: Australia

The largest terrestrial lizard that ever existed was Megalania 23 feet long, more than 1,000 pounds (three times the size of contemporary Komodo dragons). This Pleistocene apex predator carried terror in its serrated teeth and a venomous bite and had hunted giant marsupials such as Diprotodon in ancient Australia. It died out 50,000 years ago along with arrival of humans and climatic changes thus being one of the last megafaunal reptiles on earth.

Key Features:

• Length: 23 feet
• Venomous bite

Diet & Behavior:

Ate giant marsupials

Extinction Cause:

Wildlife hunting by humans & global warming

11. Elasmosaurus – The Long-Necked Sea Serpent

Time: Late Cretaceous (80 million years ago)

North America

Logically, the final marooned weirdo was Elasmosaurus, with an incredible 72 neck verts--over and beyond any actual extant creature revealed--hanging down the middle of its 46-foot frame like an open fishing rod. This was a Cretaceous plesiosaur flying through the waters of North America snapping up fish with its small sharp-toothed head by the means of 4 paddle-like flippers. Its rule was destroyed 80 million years before leaving behind one of the most famous examples of extreme evolutionary adaptation known in paleontology.

Key Features:

• Length: 46 ft
• Little head, tusky teeth

Diet & Behavior:

Ambushed fish

Extinction Cause:

K-Pg extinction

12. Titanoboa – The Monster Snake

Time: Paleocene (60-58mn years ago)

Native habitat: South America

Titanoboa was the biggest snake ever found that slinked through Paleocene swamps at a huge length of 42 ft and weighing an impressively large 1.25 tons, that is thick as a telephone pole. This giant constrictor was squashing fossilized crocodiles and mammoth turtles on the steaming jungles in South America 60 million years ago. Its extinction was linked to the era of cooling climates when it was the era of reptiles that existed at a record size.

Key Features:

• 42-foot length
• Weight / ton: 1.25

Diet & Behavior:

Small crocodiles strangled

Extinction Cause:

Climate cooling

Conclusion

These went extinct reptiles were amongst the most incredible of all creatures to have ever existed. And they ruled the earth, sea and air until they disappeared under the asteroid blows, the climate changes and human civilization in the presence of the mighty T. rex and the huge Titanoboa.

An examination of these prehistoric reptiles allows us to learn more about evolution, extinctions, and how precarious life on earth is. What will come up with an excavation in future regarding these vanished giants?

Which reptile would you want to see alive? Let us know in the comments!