ExtinctZoo - The World's Most Terrifying Island...

Episode Date: October 19, 2024

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And at the time, Europe was much warmer than it is currently, and consisted of an extensive of archipelago that held an untold amount of small and large islands, which were all surrounded by a shallow tropical sea. Many of these islands were fairly unassuming and uninhabited, making them a nice destination spot. But in the case of a few islands, it was a complete different story, as they had island residents that would make any visit highly questionable. And of all the islands you could have seen during this time, the most unhinged by far was Hatsug Island, a place home to a wide range of animals, of which a handful would have given you some pretty gnarly nightmares. And strangely enough, the animals in question were not dinosaurs, as this was one of the only

places in the entire world, where dinosaurs were not the true rulers and were instead the prey themselves. Welcome to Hatsug Island, one of the worst island getaways you could ever imagine. Despite having been a relatively large piece of land, Hatsug Island can no longer be found on any map, and today the only signs of its existence are found through limited rock formations around the town of Hatsig in Romania. However, between 90 and 66 million years ago, it was a freestanding island that was about 80,000 square kilometers or 31,000 square miles in area, making it about the same size as Hispaniola, which houses two countries, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. So suffice to say, Hatsic was a pretty well-sized island. And based on geometric data, researchers believe that it would have been located right above the equatorial belt.

And if it somehow popped up today, it would lie in an area within Algeria. Although in terms of climate, geology, and topography, the most similar modern island to it is Hainan, which is located off the coast of China. Additionally, back then, its surroundings were for the most part not African landmasses, but other European ones such as Iberia, Ireland, Sardinia, Bosnia, Austria, and parts of what is today Ukraine, just to name a few. That being said, because of how the continents were arranged during the Cretaceous, you wouldn't actually have been that far from parts of Africa as well, or even parts of North America. But don't bother thinking you could have swam to either continent, as Hatsig was marooned by the Tethas Sea, where it was separated in every direction by at least 200 kilometers or 120 miles of water, with the nearest land having been the Bohemian massive.

Due to this total isolation, Hattsk Island was likely quite chill for a long time, as not many animals could reach it or establish a permanent population there. And this is reflected by the minimal amount of fauna known from the older stages of the Cretaceous. And so if you somehow found yourself cast away on the island at the start, your main worries would have only been small lizards and sea turtles.

However, towards the end of the Cretaceous, things began to ramp up, as dinosaurs, terrosaurs, and other creatures all found their way to this island, becoming permanent inhabitants, and seemingly turning it into just another dino-ruled place. But this wasn't actually the case, as on Hatsug Island, the animals took a very different approach to size than what was seen elsewhere in the world. And if anyone stumbled upon this lost place, it would quickly be established as something was very off. As the dinosaurs came in miniature sizes, while the largest and deadliest predators around were not any theropod,

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Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Now, why terrors here were giant and dinosaurs tiny is a question that is long-fassinated to paleontologists. And by far, the most accepted explanation is that animals were subjected to insular dwarfism and gigantism. So in the case of dinosaurs, they became smaller due to a lack of resources, while terosaurs, often limited by dinosaur's sizes, were free to balloon in stature in the absence of competition, and ultimately leading to the largest animals to ever fly, period. And let me tell you, giant pterosaurs are not pretty pictures. As of now, three named Janera are known to have ruled this island, all of which hailed from the Azdarkidae family,

who were the most widespread group of terrors around during the Ely Cretaceous, and were characterized by long legs and necks. The smallest of the three was the Urazdarko, yet it was still monstrous by normal standards, with an estimated wingspan of 3 meters or 10 feet, which is already putting it on par with the largest wingspans of birds of today. However, at this size, it was not a huge threat to the vast majority of dinosaurs and likely had a fairly boring diet that consisted of amphibians, small reptiles, and mammals. However, such a mundane diet cannot be said for the next pterosaur, the Alba Draco, which despite not even being the largest terosaur on the island, was an absolute behemoth and a huge step up from the Urazdarko, having had a wingspan of up to 7 meters or 23 feet,

giving it a greater wingspan than even the Argentavus, the heaviest bird to ever fly. And if one was walking right next to you, it would easily be tall enough to peer straight over your head. And along with being taller than you, something else bizarre you might notice was the size of its skull. As compared to other pterosaurs, Albedraco had a relatively large and sturdy head, the first sign of a more sinister diet, as paleontologists believe that this increased size and durability was an adaptation for stronger beak and bite that allowed it to eat larger prey that most pherosaurs did not hunt, i.e. dinosaurs. Specifically, certain researchers believe that Alba Draco, given its size and powerful head, could have stabbed or belludgeoned a variety of dinosaurs on the island to death. And in some cases,

it could have even just swallowed the prey hole. The edges and sides of the size of the sea, its beak were also much sharper than what is usually seen in pterosaurs, which is only more evidence that it had a bigger appetite than its predecessor. By pure volume alone, Albedraco was already the second largest predator on the island by a huge margin, which likely meant that many dinosaurs, at least as juveniles, were viable targets. But it still did not likely go after the dwarf sauropods or ornithopods, instead picking on theropods, notosaurs, and certain non-avian dinosaur fauna. And while it could definitely fly, Analysis on its leg structure and wings suggest that it was more of a terrestrial creature than not,

preferring to prowl the islands and stalking prey by using vegetation as a cover, while flight was more likely used to scope out potential hunting areas. Yet, despite its grand size and disturbing appearance, you wouldn't have needed to worry too much about it, as you would have had much bigger problems to worry about, that came in the form of the Hatzigopteryx. Now, there's no arguing that Albedraco was huge, But even it was comically small compared to the Hatsygopteryx, which as of today is the largest known animal to ever fly, having had a wingspan of roughly 12 meters or 39 feet.

To put that into perspective, that means it was wider than a freaking F-35 fighter jet. And with this wingspan, only the Quetzalco Atlas, from North America, comes close in size. But even it didn't touch the Hatsogopteryx when it came to wait. as the former was built like a heavy bomber, sporting an unnervingly thick and sturdy skeleton that was also absurdly tall. And when on the ground, its head stood at around five meters or 16.5 feet tall, close to the height of the tallest animal alive today, the giraffe. And because it was so chunky and large, some paleontologists think that it would have weighed the same as decently sized grizzly bears. At this weight is hard to believe that such a creature could fly, but fly it could,

as paleontologists noted that its wings were designed exactly like those of other as darkets and showed no signs of being regressed or vestigial. The current belief is that to achieve flight, the Hatsygopteryx would rely on its surprisingly powerful limbs to propel itself straight up into the air, where its giant wings would then take over. And based on studies done for other pterosaurs, it's believed that Hatzigopteryx had a vertical leap of about 2.4 meters or 8 feet,

or in other words, 300% greater than the average vertical leap seen in half. NBA players. But in spite of being capable of flying, the Hatsygoptrix was still not the best at long-distance voyages, and likely only flew for short durations, using the sky mostly to just pinpoint potential victims. And like the Albedraco, the Hatsygopteryx appears to have been mainly a terrestrial predator, and it actually could have been an unnervingly good runner, too. While on the ground, it also had its height to use to its advantage, allowing fully grown adults to see well over vegetation. And just to further beef it up some more, as if it needed it, the sclerotic rings on Hatsygopteryx indicate that it had excellent vision, which would have

let it spot any animal trying to remain unseen. And so based on these traits and its stature, researchers concluded that Hatsogopteryx was by far the island's most dominant and largest carnivore. Yet it wasn't necessarily its body size that made it truly terrifying and deadly, but rather his giant head, which again makes Alba Drakow seem like a joke, as the Hatsygopteryx's head measured 2.5 meters or 8 feet long. You know, just the equivalent of the length of an entire horse. And it wasn't just long, but bizarrely robust, too, leading to an extremely surreal appearance. The design of its head was also the clearest sign of a monstrous diet, as it was sturdy, compact, and heavily built. Not to mention that its neck too was roped in large amounts of ligaments

and muscles, which are all signs that its skull was built to dish out and withstand extreme amounts of force. This has led researchers to deduce that the Hatsygoptrix was a literal dynoslayer that preyed on many of the island's inhabitants. Even the dwarf sarapods and ornithopods were not untouchable, at least while young. As recreation suggests that the Hatsygopteryx could bludgeon and stab hard enough to kill prey that was otherwise too large to swallow. Though it might be worth mentioning at this point that its mouth did open wide enough to swallow prey as large as humans. To make things even more grim, there is further evidence which indicates that this pterosaur was a very messy killer, as specimens typically had heavy scarring towards the back

of the skulls, which is a sign that they regularly endured heavy high-speed impacts. And for the cherry on top, other studies found that the Hatsygoptery's neck and beak could both withstand forces ten times greater than its own body weight, implying, that each thrust of its beak could literally penetrate deep within flesh or cause significant blunt trauma. Clearly, the Hatsugopteryx was without a doubt the true king of this prehistoric island, and made it a rather nightmarish place, but not even it nor the other terrosaurs were the last of your worries. As Hatsk was home to other carnivores, including a fair share of crocodilla forms, who, like the terrors, benefited from living with dwarf dinosaurs,

and they were able to achieve much higher positions on the food chain than they would elsewhere. Most of them were still relatively small, compared to us humans at least. And certain kinds, such as the Aprosuchus, Geradon, and Sabresucas, would be considered tiny by all accounts if alive today, having been smaller than a house cat. Yet on the other hand, one genus, the Alodaposuchus, got rather big. This was a type of Usukian, which are today survived by modern crocodilians. And it is believed to have held dominion over the abundant lakes and rivers that peppered Hatsig Island, where it would lie in weight for thirsty animals seeking fresh water before ambushing them

with its powerful bite and finely serrated teeth. Remains show that it was one of the larger predators in the island, with estimates suggesting that it could have grown to be three meters or ten feet from snout to tail, while weighing over 220 pounds or 100 kilos, which is heavier than the weight of a large jaguar. What's interesting and slightly scary about the Aladapalusukas is that along with being semi-aquatic, It also showed some signs of being partially adapted for life on land, as its limbs were relatively elongated for a crocodile form. Therefore, it was most likely good at walking, and could maybe even run in some sense. So, even if you weren't by water, you'd still have to watch out for some pretty

big crocs. We also know from fossilized remains that snakes called this island home too, including certain Matsuide, whose members actually became Earth's longest snake on a few occasions. However, the one on Hatsig, the Nidophis, was a smaller genus, having only measured about the same length as your typical garter snake, and it wasn't venomous either, so while a bite would not feel great, it certainly wouldn't be lethal to larger animals. Now, with all of this said, of course, there were also carnivorous dinosaurs lurking about as well. Yet like the other dinosaurs on the island, they were miniature in size compared to their mainland counterparts, and were likely not even a threat to human-sized prey. One of the more common-comendousers,

kinds you could find was the elopteryx, otherwise known as Hepastiornis or Bratineem, depending on who you're talking to. This was a medium-sized Alvara sword that reached 7 feet or 2.1 meters in length, but was rather light, only weighing the same as a large male beagle. In life, these guys were equipped with extremely reduced claw digits, which aided them in an insectivorous diet that mainly consisted of termites. Now, this isn't all that disturbing. But once upon a time, it was horrifying, as paleontologists actually originally thought that the elopteryx was not a non-avian dinosaur, but rather an avian one, specifically a giant owl that was two meters or 6.6 feet tall, which based on modern owls, would have given it a wingspan of

17.8 feet or 5.4 meters, which would have made it the largest owl of all time, and one of the largest animals on the island. Yet sadly for paleo enthusiasts, and happily for Hatsuk residents, we now know this wasn't the case, and that the creature was indeed a fairly harmless alvarasorid. Although, there was another dinosaur that you may have actually needed to watch out for, the Balauer Bondock. This mysterious creature is long fascinated researchers, as they don't quite know if it was an avian, aka a primitive bird, or if it was a non-avian dinosaur, specifically a type of for now most science indicate that it was a bird yet according to the latest studies there is a slight chance that it was a raptor whatever the case it was still a very interesting creature and that

despite its small size which was equal to that of a velociraptor it seems to been billed for killing prey many times its size notably its body was much more muscular than you'd expect for an animal no bigger than a velociraptor with the legs in particular being extremely stocky to top this off its pelvis possessed many attachment points for large muscles, suggesting that it was designed for power over a speed. And with its power, it wielded not one, but two distinct large claws that were situated on each of its feet. Like raptors, many paleontologists believed that this theropod would have used ambushes to surprise prey, which were then swiftly dispatched by powerful kicks that drove the claws deep within their flesh. Meanwhile, others think that it may have instead used its enlarged claws to pin its prey,

not slashed them, and would actually kill by literally eating its prey alive once they had tired out, as some birds of today do. So if you did see this theropod, it'd be best to just play it safe and turn the other way. Although, I should mention, there is also a chance that it was not dangerous at all, since despite researchers having found well-preserved bodies, no one has ever found a skull, meaning we don't know for a certain if it was a carnivore, omnivore, or perhaps even a herbivore. To add to the confusion of Hatzig, there was yet another mysterious predator on the island, that again could have been a hunter of large animals or not. And this was the megalosaurus Hungaricus.

Now, contrary to what its name suggests, this was not really a megalosaurus, as those were long gone by then, but was rather a misclassified and determinate theropod that was tentatively maybe an abel a sword in life. Like the other dinosaurs around, it was quite small. The only problem is, is that researchers are unsure of just how small, as up until now, only fragmentary teeth belonging to it have been recovered, so not much to go off of. Yet, we can tell that they were at the very least much smaller than most mainland theropods, which has resulted in paleontologists giving the species a conservative length of 3 meters or 9.8 feet, which of accurate would still make it the largest predatory

non-avian dinosaur on the entire island, a respectable title. But beyond its teeth, an estimated length, not much else is known about this predator, yet paleontologists assume that it would have fed on a variety of herbivorous dinosaurs. Most likely, the anchylosaurus, struthiosaurus, and the Ornithician, Zalmoxies, which was fairly close to it in size. What's interesting about the Zalmoxies is that it was one of the few dinosaurs to have remained relatively unscathed from insular dwarfism, as there weren't many herbivores on Hatzig taking up resources,

which, while not allowing it to become a giant, animal did allow it to stay as a fair-sized one. What's ironic, though, is that the title for the largest dinosaurs and the biggest animals on Hatsig, by weight, still went to those most affected by insular dwarfism, the saropods. So far, two titanosaurs are known to have called this island home, the Maggerosaurus and Polluted Titan. Of the two, Magirosaurus was the slightly smaller one, having measured six meters or 20 feet, and weighing no more than one ton, while the The Pluted Titan didn't fare much better, with a similar length, but a slightly heftier build that made it about a tenth of a ton heavier.

At these sizes, these titanosaurs were among the smallest sauropods to ever live, and were more comparable to horses than bush elephants. Nevertheless, these sizes still made them the weight kings of the island, and fully grown individuals were likely off the menu for any predator. And along with size, these dwarf sauropods also appear to have had considerable defenses, at least the Magyarosaurus did. As analysis on its skeleton revealed the presence of osteoderms that layered different parts of the body, providing protection that may have proved useful for juveniles against attacks from predators. Not every dinosaur was as fortunate as the Magiarosaurus, though,

as some like the tomatosaurus had no armor and reduced in size to the point that even the adults could have been in danger at all time. This genus was a hadrosauromorph, that was five meters or 16 feet long and weighed about half a ton. It was one of the more common dinosaurs on the island and was likely a large part of the Hatsygopteryx's diet. Research on its teeth showed that it itself had a diet consisting of shrubs and herbaceous plants, suggesting that it probably stuck to the wooden interiors of the island, where it both ate its share and could take shelter from peering eyes. Yet sadly for it, it didn't just have predators to worry about. As a recovered specimen showed that individuals were susceptible to certain illnesses too, such as not.

non-cancerous tumors, with the individual in question possessing a large ameloblastoma on its lower jaw. And while benign, it is thought that this tumor may have greatly contributed to its death, as it made eating a nearly impossible task as it grew larger. So with all of this said, life surely would have been much easier for the tomatosaurus if it had retained the large sizes seen in its mainland relatives. But not all dinosaurs actually suffered from this curse of insular dwarfism, as a lucky few actually experienced the complete opposite. it, giganticism, with one notable case being the Gargantuevas.

This was indeed a dinosaur, but it was not non-avian, rather avian, so in other words, a large primitive bird. Usually birds during the Mesozoic were quite small, and the vast majority were no bigger than a crow, but the Gargantuevas was an extreme anomaly, as in light of limited competition, it became not only the largest bird on the island, but the biggest bird to have ever lived during the age of the dinosaurs. And as of today, paleontologists believed that it grew to be around the size of a cassowary or an ostrich, depending on the individual, with an average mature weight of 141 kilos or 311 pounds, which actually made it one of the Hatsug Islands' heavier residents. But its role in the ecosystem is not clear,

because like the Belauer, no school of it has ever been found, meaning we're not 100% sure what it ate. And what further perplexes researchers is that its next construction suggests that the skull would have been absolutely massive, leading some to hypothesize that it was a bit like the Cenozoic terror birds that hunted other animals. Yet the morphology of his body and limbs don't really back this. And an additional odd aspect about it was its giant thick femur that highly resembled those seen in the extinct moa. This implied the Gargantuevas wasn't the fastest in life and in conjunction with its body size likely could not fly. It also led some to believe that it lived a lot like moas, foraging for seeds, fruits, leaves, and grasses. But without any

head material it's impossible to say. And there have been many many of the many of the attempts to find a skull, but altruized have ended unsuccessfully, as Gargantuevis appears to have been a relatively uncommon creature, something not helped by its preference for areas far away from rivers and lakes, where fossilization rarely occurred. Although, even without knowing its lifestyle, we can still say that an ostrich-sized bird probably still would have given you quite a fright if you ran into one, not to mention that all the pterosaurs, crocs, and possibly smaller killer dynos made Hatsig a questionable destination. And to add fuel to the fire, Hattuck was also surrounded by many scary animals, as the shallow waters that bordered were perfect for their own aquatic nightmares. And like nearly

every other place during the Lake Cretaceous, the Tethasur, was home to Mosasors, but it took it to an extreme level, as it had numerous genera, at least nine, to be exact, which gave it a higher diversity of mosasors than any other place in the entire world, bar one. Of the mosasors that called the waters around Hatsig home, three of them, the Mosares, the Mosares. Ososaurus, hynosaurus, and prognathodon were monsters when it came to size, is all measured well over 30 feet or 9 meters, with some species even growing to be as long as certain baleen whales. And the rest of the mosasaurus, while not behemoths, were by no means harmless, as the smallest of the bunch, the Carinodens, was still typically the same length as a large bull shark.

And to make matters worse, mosasaurus typically preferred shallow, warm waters. so it's safe to assume that you wouldn't have to swim that far in order to find one, or rather it to find you. Additionally, you had a variety of plesiosaurs in the area too, and while human-sized prey were not their targets, their appearance alone could give you a heart attack. And then there are, of course, sharks as well, who, like the mosasores, enjoyed great diversity in these waters,

and were represented by carpet, ground, cow, squalling, dogfish, bamboo, saw, mackerel, and nurse sharks. Of the bunch, the most terrifying was undoubtedly the mackerel sharks, which could grow quite large and were best adapted at hunting megafauna, having rows of serrated teeth. One of the largest and most dominant kinds in the area was the ginsu shark, that was longer than the biggest great whites, incapable of immense speeds of up to 70 kilometers an hour or 43 miles per hour, which it used to stage catastrophic ambushes on unsuspecting prey. You then had the leptostyrochs as well, a less famous but even larger mackerel shark, that could grow to be 8.3 meters or 27 feet.

In other words, close to the length of a big whale shark. And what's especially disturbing about this beast is that it was known to show a strong preference for shallow waters off the coast of land. Not great news for any vacationers. And just to add a cherry on top, I will mention that there were crow sharks too, which while smaller than the two former genera

were still quite sizable and are known for their voracious appetites, that included non-aquatic animals like pterosaurs and dinosaurs. Suffice to say, if something got marooned on Hatsig, they were screwed, trying to stay on it, or trying to escape. And to rub salt into the wound, even Mother Nature wasn't kind to Hatsug Island. As studies on the formation revealed, that the region was highly prone to volcanic eruptions, that covered the island in thick layers of ash from time to time. Yet nothing experienced could compare to what happened to it 66 million years ago. As when the giant asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs hit Earth,

Hatsig was one of the unlucky places to have experienced a large tsunami that possibly measured over 9 meters or 30 feet. And for any who survived, they still had to deal with the usual effects. That included extreme temperatures which would have created immense forest fires, as Hatsig was dominated by dry woodland conditions. These fires, coupled with any tsunami heading their way, ultimately ended this mysterious island and its even more mysterious unusual residence. Thanks for watching, and until next time, on a... Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes.

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