A little less than a year ago, we invited you to discover the amazing work by a Ukrainian paleontologist named Roman Uchytel. The latter has fun comparing, on the same images, the size of a current animal, compared to the size of their prehistoric ancestor. And the differences in size and shape are always quite disturbing. We let you discover all by yourself !
1) Cape Hyrax (modern) vs Mixotoxodon (ancestor)
2) European fallow deer (modern) vs Megaloceros giganteus (ancestor)
Comment: The megaloceros Where Megaloceros giganteus was once called the “great bog deer”. It was one of the largest deer of all time, looked like a large fallow deer, and its antlers measured up to 3.50 m, from end to end.
3) puma concolor (modern) vs puma pardoides (ancestor)
4) the spotted hyena (modern) vs the dinocrocuta (ancestor)
5) the fossa (modern) vs the barbourofelis fricki (ancestor)
6) Modern man vs Flores man
Comment: theMan of Flores (Homo floresiensis) is an extinct species of the genus Homo, fossils of which were discovered in 2003 in Liang Bua Cave, on the Indonesian island of Flores. Human fossils were dated in 2016 between 100,000 and 60,000 years before present. Homo floresiensis was small (between 1 m and 1.10 m), possibly due to a process of insular dwarfismlike other populations on the island.
7) the blue whale (modern) vs the indohyus (ancestor)
Comment: theIndohyus was a kind of small ungulate weighing about 10 kg, and which is considered a terrestrial ancestor of cetaceans. It was indeed a semi-aquatic animal.
8) raccoon (modern) vs chapalmalania altaefrontis (ancestor)
9) the glutton (modern) vs the megalictis fero (ancestor)
10) the Malaysian tapir (modern) vs the lofialete (ancestor)
11) Galapagos Giant Tortoise (modern) vs. Megalochelys Atlas (ancestor)
12) emperor penguin (modern) vs Palaeeudyptes klekowskii (ancestor)
Comment: the Palaeeudyptes klekowskii is an extinct species of an equally extinct genus of penguins that lived in Antarctica. It is known by a vast collection fossil bones dated to the Upper Eocene, approximately between -37 and -34 million years ago.
13) the red panda (modern) vs the simocyon batalleri (ancestor)
14) polar bear (modern) vs ursus maritimus tyrannus (ancestor)
15) guanaco (modern) vs hemiauchenia macrocephala (ancestor)
16) Grévy’s zebra (modern) vs Macrauchenia patachonica (ancestor)
17) Virginia opossum (modern) vs Thylacosmilus atrox (ancestor)
Comment: the Thylacosmilus atrox, the sole representative of the genus Thylacosmilus, is an extinct species of metatherian saber-toothed mammal that inhabited what is now South America (9–3 million years ago). Its resemblance to the famous saber-toothed tigers doesn’t make it a felid. It was actually a sparassodont, a group related to marsupials, and whose superficial resemblance to other saber-toothed mammals is simply due to convergent evolution.
18) the kiwi roa (modern) vs the giant south island moa (ancestor)
19) African leopard (modern) vs Panthera pardus spelaea (ancestor)
20) Canadian Beaver (modern) vs Nebraska Giant Beaver (ancestor)
21) giant panda (modern) vs kretzoiarctos beatrix (ancestor)
22) canadian wolf vs canis dirus/aenocyon dirus (ancestor)
23) walrus (modern) vs pontolis magnus (ancestor)
24) the great black buffalo of the savannas (modern) vs the pelorovis antiquus (ancestor)
25) the fighting bull vs the European and Middle Eastern aurochs (ancestor)
And if you liked this article, do not hesitate to find the previous comparisons of Roman Uchytel just here.
