What do you think about extinct and extant fauna?

[Murphy Lawden]

The evolutionary history of life on this planet has always fascinated me. Yes, while it is true that the fossil record is incomplete, what we have provides a pretty clear understanding. It's awe-inspiring to think about how life originated, evolved, diversified, and reached the level of diversity we see today. However, it is nothing compared to the diversity we had before, as many of them have died out. When we think about prehistoric life, most people picture dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex or Ice Age megafauna like the Woolly Mammoth or Smilodon, which is understandable given their incredible size, diversity, and dominance during their respective eras. To be completely honest, I mostly only care about Mesozoic fauna myself. And all of this is just a way for me find more people to talk about dinosaurs with. But there are many other remarkable creatures: from the marine species of the Cambrian explosion, the giant arthropods of the Carboniferous, the giant amphibians like Temnospondyls and proto-mammal Synapsids of the Permian, to the non-dinosaur reptiles such as Pseudosuchians, Pterosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and Plesiosaurs of the Mesozoic, and many others.

Therefore, I am making this thread to interact with others who are interested in this topic.

Here are my questions:

1. What is your favorite prehistoric / extinct animal or group of animals? Why? Where did you first learn about them?
2. What is your favorite extant animal or group of animals? Why? (excluding Homo sapiens)
3. Name an animal or a group of animals, extinct or extant, that you think is underappreciated.

My Answers

1. There are way too many prehistoric that I love. So, I am only going to mention some of my absolute favorites.

Tyrannosaurus rex: For someone like me who absolutely adores dinosaurs, the Tyrant Lizard King was a no-brainer. It is the largest theropod dinosaur and terrestrial carnivore to ever live, that we know of. It also had the strongest bite of any terrestrial animal and some of the most acute senses in the animal kingdom. No, my love for it didn’t develop from the Jurassic series or any other movies, those depictions are highly outdated and, in some cases, not even accurate for their time. It was its depiction in "Prehistoric Planet" that made me its fan. And I first learned about dinosaurs from the anime "Dinosaur King". Fun Fact: As of January 2024: There are two species of Tyrannosaurus: Tyrannosaurus rex and the slightly older Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis.

Chonky Bois!​

Azhdarchid pterosaurs: See, I have a thing for large animals, there's something about them that's both fear-inducing and awe-inspiring. In fact, my top 10 are essentially the largest members of their respective groups, with two exceptions. So, you all should already know, Azhdarchids will be on the list. They are some of the largest animals to ever fly, with Quetzalcoatlus northropi having the largest wingspan of any flighted animal. However, it was not the largest; that title belongs to Hatzegopteryx thambema, which, while being shorter, was more robustly built. These were the real dragons. Also, something I just want to point out, they have some of the raddest names I’ve ever heard: Thanatosdrakon, Infernodrakon, Cryodrakon, Arambourgiania. Holy shit! I also learned first time about them in "Prehistoric Planet".

Size Comparison: Quetzalcoatlus northropi vs Hatzegopteryx thambema​

Deinosuchus riograndensis: Crocodilians are already my favorite group of extant animals. Learning that there was once a true crocodilian that lived alongside and hunted dinosaurs instantly made me a fan. Hmm, I don’t really remember where I first heard about Deinosuchus, but it was most likely from a YouTube video.

I know, I know, these are some of the most unoriginal choices, but still, they are rad. I had many others that I wanted to talk about: Dinosaurs like the Spinosaurids, Carcharodontosaurids, Megaraptorans ,and Hadrosaurids (my favorite Ornithischians), Psuedochusichians like the Rauisuchids or the Sebecids. Phorusrhacids (Terror Birds), non-Archosaurian reptiles, Sea Scorpions, Sharks like the Megalodon, Synapsids, and even just early mammals. But I am too lazy to type any further, and I am sure people will it boring if I yap too much.

2. Since I already mentioned crocodilians, let’s talk about my second favorite group, cetaceans, i.e., whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Why? To be honest, I just love them for no apparent reason. They are some of the most intelligent animals after humans. It’s incredible to think that they evolved from small, wolf-like ancestors (not closely related to wolves at all, they were artiodactyls) into absolute giants of the ocean. Here’s a fun fact: echolocation evolved multiple times within the group independently. I do find them cute, but yeah, their actions might not always be so cute.

3.

The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis): The original penguin. The term 'penguin' was originally used to refer to the Great Auk, a flightless bird from the Northern Hemisphere. However, when explorers and naturalists later encountered penguins in the Southern Hemisphere, they found these birds to be very similar to the Great Auk and began using the name 'penguin' for them as well. And you might ask—where are these birds now? Well, as always, humans drove them to extinction. This serves as my inspiration for the bonus question. I won’t delve into them much here, but I would highly recommend whoever is reading this to check it out at least once.

Bonus Question: What do you think about the adverse effects of human activities on extant biodiversity? What would you propose to correct them?

***You may or may not answer one or more questions. And questions can have multiple answer.​

 

[FireBlaze]

The evolutionary history of life on this planet has always fascinated me. Yes, while it is true that the fossil record is incomplete, what we have provides a pretty clear understanding. It's awe-inspiring to think about how life originated, evolved, diversified, and reached the level of diversity we see today. However, it is nothing compared to the diversity we had before, as many of them have died out. When we think about prehistoric life, most people picture dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex or Ice Age megafauna like the Woolly Mammoth or Smilodon, which is understandable given their incredible size, diversity, and dominance during their respective eras. To be completely honest, I mostly only care about Mesozoic fauna myself. And all of this is just a way for me find more people to talk about dinosaurs with. But there are many other remarkable creatures: from the marine species of the Cambrian explosion, the giant arthropods of the Carboniferous, the giant amphibians like Temnospondyls and proto-mammal Synapsids of the Permian, to the non-dinosaur reptiles such as Pseudosuchians, Pterosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and Plesiosaurs of the Mesozoic, and many others.

Therefore, I am making this thread to interact with others who are interested in this topic.

Here are my questions:

1. What is your favorite prehistoric / extinct animal or group of animals? Why? Where did you first learn about them?
2. What is your favorite extant animal or group of animals? Why? (excluding Homo sapiens)
3. Name an animal or a group of animals, extinct or extant, that you think is underappreciated.

My Answers

1. There are way too many prehistoric that I love. So, I am only going to mention some of my absolute favorites.

Tyrannosaurus rex: For someone like me who absolutely adores dinosaurs, the Tyrant Lizard King was a no-brainer. It is the largest theropod dinosaur and terrestrial carnivore to ever live, that we know of. It also had the strongest bite of any terrestrial animal and some of the most acute senses in the animal kingdom. No, my love for it didn’t develop from the Jurassic series or any other movies, those depictions are highly outdated and, in some cases, not even accurate for their time. It was its depiction in "Prehistoric Planet" that made me its fan. And I first learned about dinosaurs from the anime "Dinosaur King". Fun Fact: As of January 2024: There are two species of Tyrannosaurus: Tyrannosaurus rex and the slightly older Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis.

View attachment 728426
Chonky Bois!​

Azhdarchid pterosaurs: See, I have a thing for large animals, there's something about them that's both fear-inducing and awe-inspiring. In fact, my top 10 are essentially the largest members of their respective groups, with two exceptions. So, you all should already know, Azhdarchids will be on the list. They are some of the largest animals to ever fly, with Quetzalcoatlus northropi having the largest wingspan of any flighted animal. These were the real dragons. However, it was not the largest; that title belongs to Hatzegopteryx thambema, which, while being shorter, was more robustly built. Also, something I just want to point out, they have some of the raddest names I’ve ever heard: Thanatosdrakon, Infernodrakon, Cryodrakon, Arambourgiania. Holy shit! I also learned first time about them in "Prehistoric Planet".

View attachment 728421
Size Comparison: Quetzalcoatlus northropi vs Hatzegopteryx thambema​

Deinosuchus riograndensis: Crocodilians are already my favorite group of extant animals. Learning that there was once a true crocodilian that lived alongside and hunted dinosaurs instantly made me a fan. Hmm, I don’t really remember where I first heard about Deinosuchus, but it was most likely from a YouTube video.

View attachment 728419​

I know, I know, these are some of the most unoriginal choices, but still, they are rad. I had many others that I wanted to talk about: Dinosaurs like the Spinosaurids, Carcharodontosaurids, Megaraptorans ,and Hadrosaurids (my favorite Ornithischians), Psuedochusichians like the Rauisuchids or the Sebecids. Phorusrhacids (Terror Birds), non-Archosaurian reptiles, Sea Scorpions, Sharks like the Megalodon, Synapsids, and even just early mammals. But I am too lazy to type any further, and I am sure people will it boring if I yap too much.

2. Since I already mentioned crocodilians, let’s talk about my second favorite group, cetaceans, i.e., whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Why? To be honest, I just love them for no apparent reason. They are some of the most intelligent animals after humans. It’s incredible to think that they evolved from small, wolf-like ancestors (not closely related to wolves at all, they were artiodactyls) into absolute giants of the ocean. Here’s a fun fact: echolocation evolved multiple times within the group independently. I do find them cute, but yeah, their actions might not always be so cute.

3. The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis): The original penguin. The term 'penguin' was originally used to refer to the Great Auk, a flightless bird from the Northern Hemisphere. However, when explorers and naturalists later encountered penguins in the Southern Hemisphere, they found these birds to be very similar to the Great Auk and began using the name 'penguin' for them as well. And you might ask—where are these birds now? Well, as always, humans drove them to extinction. This serves as my inspiration for the bonus question. I won’t delve into them much here, but I would highly recommend whoever is reading this to check it out at least once.

Bonus Question: What do you think about the adverse effects of human activities on extant biodiversity? What would you propose to correct them?

***You may or may not answer one or more questions. And questions can have multiple answer.​

Also, if anyone is interested in chatting about prehistoric life, you can reach me on my Discord at pokemontrainer596.

I'm not a history buff when it comes to prehistoric life, but this research is impressive as hell! and knowledge overall! Websteroprion armstrongi was a Marine Worm and thinking of a worm that was 6-3 feet and COULD SWIM is utterly terrifying and amazing at the same time. I unfortunately don't have Discord. but prehistorical ideals to interest me quite much! Whatever the case, Hats off to you again This amount of work and knowledge pertaining to one subject is quite impressive and it's nice to see that people still do this much research in bulk.

 

[Bog Monster]

Remember kids, the Cambrian explosion was not a shit ton of species appearing out of thin air. It's when existing animals started evolving shells/exoskeletons that are preserved more easily as fossils.

1. God I love orthoceras. It's a squid but pointy. It looks like it's wearing a dunce cap. Also interested in ancient jellyfish, but those did not leave many fossils.

2. I've been on a sea slug kick (nudibranchs, sacoglossans, sea hares and more) for the last few years, but frogs are excellent too.

3. Not enough love for parasites. Most research into them is about the detrimental effects on their hosts, but they're an important part of every ecosystem. Shoutouts to copepods, crustaceans that normally look like shrimp but parasitic species can become spindly masses of tentacles.

Bonus: It sucks. Things like our food supply and energy requirements are tough to fix, but a simpler change is reducing light and sound pollution that mess with navigation and act as
superstimuli.

 

[Gekokeso]

memebitatxt. go nuts

 

[Murphy Lawden]

memebitatxt. go nuts

Is that a therapsid? In his pfp

 

[Murphy Lawden]

3. Not enough love for parasites. Most research into them is about the detrimental effects on their hosts, but they're an important part of every ecosystem. Shoutouts to copepods, crustaceans that normally look like shrimp but parasitic species can become spindly masses of tentacles.

Have you heard of tounge eating lice of the family Cymothoidae

 

[shaian]

I wanna give a shoutout to Himalayasaurus, my GOAT was the largest macropredator for like 180 million years, ichythosaurs are underrated because people be riding mosasaurs.

 

[Murphy Lawden]

I wanna give a shoutout to Himalayasaurus, my GOAT was the largest macropredator for like 180 million years, ichythosaurs are underrated because people be riding mosasaurs.

lol the reason people glaze Mosasaurs is because of the Jurassic World Mosasaurus but most people don't even know the real animal was not that large. Infact Himalayasaurus was larger than all of the Mosasaurs discovered the largest species Mosasaurus hoffmannii which on average would be around 11-14 m and 10-15 tonnes while Himalayasaurus was around 15 m long and over 30 tonnes. And lets not talk about even larger ichthyosaurs or the largest. ichthyosaurs are cool they are like reptilian equivalent to cetaceans

 

[phoopes]

them

<3

 

[Kiwi]

Australian megafauna my beloved

 

[internet]

deserved it

 

[Ironmage]

I love how Wikipedia's main images for radiodonts look like pokemon fanart.

 

[Jungle cruiser]

As a general animal enthusiast, I'd be glad to answer!

1. Hmmm, tough choice. Meganeura is pretty epic, being essentially everything modern dragonflies are, but super gigantic. The fact these fellas could've very likely been the apex predators of their environments, at least until amphibians caught up, is pretty cool as well!

Though with that said, Anomalocaris is also up there for me as well! Pretty similar to Meganeura in terms of being this big, scary early predator that ruled uncontested over their habitat before vertebrates got to evolve. However, these guys also developed a STRONG set of jaws that could pierce through their prey's defenses. Ik that doesn't sound like a lot, but for the time shell armor was the most common and effective means of defense, so this meant almost everything smaller than them was fair game.

I discovered both of these fellas through a book I bought on prehistoric animals. Thankfully it wasn't one of those narrow books that only talked about dinosaurs and the mesozoic era, so I got to learn about so much more animals as well! (Images of these fellas for those who are curious, meganeura on the left and anomalocaris on the right).

Honorable mentions to Gallimimus, moas, giant penguins, troodons, Beelzebufos, Ichthyosaurus, Quetzalcoatlus, Calymene and Crash Bandicoot (ok this one's only for the name really. Like, fr, how did they get away with that name? Lmao)

2. Oh man, where to even BEGIN. Well, for starters, I've always been a huge insect fan, to the point where I kinda turned it into part of my online identity. I just find it fascinating how diverse they've become, just how many unique adaptations they've adopted to perform all sorts of ecological niches. The fact they've become THE most numerous and successful class of animals, as well as surviving numerous fatal mass extinctions is pretty epic as well. Definitely some of the most underrated and at the same time overhated animals (I do get why people dislike them, but at the same time you gotta give them props).

Beyond that, there's a freak ton of other animals I enjoy a lot. Anseriformes (ducks, geese and swans), Pelecaniformes (pelicans, herons and ibises), Testudines (turtles and tortoises), basically all cetaceans, Psittaciformes (parrots, parakeets and cockatoos), Squamata (lizards and snakes) and Siluriformes (catfish) also stick out pretty well in my mind, either having interesting adaptations and species or in general just giving good vibes.

3. I could go into insects once more here tbh. Like, they're literally part of the glue that holds the earth together. Pollinators, eroders, decomposers, carnivores, herbivores and base of many food webs (a sad but noble duty ;-;). They even pioneered land travel and flight millions of years ago! Sadly, the only talk I ever see if them usually reduced them to inconsequential to everything or just flat out hateable pests, which is kinda sad...

I'd also like to mention tuna actually. Like, these are some of the fastest swimming fish in the whole world, making them pretty efficient hunters. They're freaking MASSIVE, have been known to hunt alongside dolphins and are even some of the few warm blooded fish. And yet... people only really know them for being delicious. Just now, when I went to fact check some of the stuff I mentioned, the first recommended searches that appeared when I typed tuna were recipes. That's... really sad honestly. Granted, they aren't near the level of respect I have for insects, but still, justice for the fish bois.

Bonus: Honestly, it's really depressing. There are so many amazing animals in this planet that exist and have existed over the many, many years of this earth existing. And yet, due to human greed, malevolence and/or plain unconsciousness, many have been completely wiped out. And the worst part is, there may be some we couldn't even get to know well before humanity did them in.

I do have hope for the future though. Personally, I believe that raising awareness does go a long way. Controlling urbanization would also help significantly, or at the very least having areas were they can live comfortably. Oh, and also reducing the use of fossil fuels as well, to diminish global warming!

There's more I could discuss tbh, but this post got way longer than I originally thought. Ah well, pretty sure I made my point well!

 

[Eledyr]

I like Extinct!
I have no opinions on extant fauna.

 

[Blizihguh]

The best extinct fauna is obviously the Sicilian Dwarf Elephant (Palaeoloxodon falconeri). I will brook no dissent on this, and the fact that it hasn't been brought up in 14 posts is just telling me that Smogoff is full of fake extinct fauna fans who don't even know that there used to be tiny elephants. If you don't want a three-foot-tall elephant in your life I don't know what to tell you, get better ambitions I guess.

Best extant fauna is a tough choice! I think it's interesting that you banned homo sapiens, I feel like that would be controversial pick anyway. Definitely not 0% of the vote but I doubt it would make it to the top 3, maybe not the top 5. I think my vote would probably go to the humble frog, but giraffes, platypi and alpacas would all make my short list. Putting dogs feels like cheating, since we basically engineered them to be maximally appealing, but they're good too.

Underappreciated fauna would have to be rats. I think they're making a comeback now though.

 

[Murphy Lawden]

Insane I don't see any Permian animals

 

[Ironmage]

As alluded to before, I'm a pretty big fan of Cambrian arthropods. Apparently I was interested in trilobites from a young enough age I don't really remember it myself. As far as current stuff goes, I definitely count the deep ocean as one of my earlier special interests. The big standouts of this at the moment are most things in Cnidaria (jellyfish, corals, siphonophores) and anything found at hydrothermal vents.

I kind of consider my interest in animals to end at bone. I can appreciate a lot of terrestrial arthropods (centipedes might be at the top), but not really any air-breathers outside of them. I like my sharks and rays (them having electroreception is underrepresented in fantasy if you ask me), so it's not entirely Chordata that sucks. I used to like orcas, but the interest has fallen off recently. Can't stand when something overemphasizes terrestrial mammals.

 

[Murphy Lawden]

As a general animal enthusiast, I'd be glad to answer!

1. Hmmm, tough choice. Meganeura is pretty epic, being essentially everything modern dragonflies are, but super gigantic. The fact these fellas could've very likely been the apex predators of their environments, at least until amphibians caught up, is pretty cool as well!

Though with that said, Anomalocaris is also up there for me as well! Pretty similar to Meganeura in terms of being this big, scary early predator that ruled uncontested over their habitat before vertebrates got to evolve. However, these guys also developed a STRONG set of jaws that could pierce through their prey's defenses. Ik that doesn't sound like a lot, but for the time shell armor was the most common and effective means of defense, so this meant almost everything smaller than them was fair game.

I discovered both of these fellas through a book I bought on prehistoric animals. Thankfully it wasn't one of those narrow books that only talked about dinosaurs and the mesozoic era, so I got to learn about so much more animals as well! (Images of these fellas for those who are curious, meganeura on the left and anomalocaris on the right).

Honorable mentions to Gallimimus, moas, giant penguins, troodons, Beelzebufos, Ichthyosaurus, Quetzalcoatlus, Calymene and Crash Bandicoot (ok this one's only for the name really. Like, fr, how did they get away with that name? Lmao)

2. Oh man, where to even BEGIN. Well, for starters, I've always been a huge insect fan, to the point where I kinda turned it into part of my online identity. I just find it fascinating how diverse they've become, just how many unique adaptations they've adopted to perform all sorts of ecological niches. The fact they've become THE most numerous and successful class of animals, as well as surviving numerous fatal mass extinctions is pretty epic as well. Definitely some of the most underrated and at the same time overhated animals (I do get why people dislike them, but at the same time you gotta give them props).

Beyond that, there's a freak ton of other animals I enjoy a lot. Anseriformes (ducks, geese and swans), Pelecaniformes (pelicans, herons and ibises), Testudines (turtles and tortoises), basically all cetaceans, Psittaciformes (parrots, parakeets and cockatoos), Squamata (lizards and snakes) and Siluriformes (catfish) also stick out pretty well in my mind, either having interesting adaptations and species or in general just giving good vibes.

3. I could go into insects once more here tbh. Like, they're literally part of the glue that holds the earth together. Pollinators, eroders, decomposers, carnivores, herbivores and base of many food webs (a sad but noble duty ;-;). They even pioneered land travel and flight millions of years ago! Sadly, the only talk I ever see if them usually reduced them to inconsequential to everything or just flat out hateable pests, which is kinda sad...

I'd also like to mention tuna actually. Like, these are some of the fastest swimming fish in the whole world, making them pretty efficient hunters. They're freaking MASSIVE, have been known to hunt alongside dolphins and are even some of the few warm blooded fish. And yet... people only really know them for being delicious. Just now, when I went to fact check some of the stuff I mentioned, the first recommended searches that appeared when I typed tuna were recipes. That's... really sad honestly. Granted, they aren't near the level of respect I have for insects, but still, justice for the fish bois.

Bonus: Honestly, it's really depressing. There are so many amazing animals in this planet that exist and have existed over the many, many years of this earth existing. And yet, due to human greed, malevolence and/or plain unconsciousness, many have been completely wiped out. And the worst part is, there may be some we couldn't even get to know well before humanity did them in.

I do have hope for the future though. Personally, I believe that raising awareness does go a long way. Controlling urbanization would also help significantly, or at the very least having areas were they can live comfortably. Oh, and also reducing the use of fossil fuels as well, to diminish global warming!

There's more I could discuss tbh, but this post got way longer than I originally thought. Ah well, pretty sure I made my point well!

this is better written than the op haha

 

[Jungle cruiser]

this is better written than the op haha

Hehehe what can I say? I am rly passionate about it!

 

[Mechalico]

sometimes i think about the passenger pigeon and get sad

 

[Murphy Lawden]

I like Extinct!
I have no opinions on extant fauna.

how about you change your name to extant