ExtinctZoo - The Worst Period To Time Travel To...

Episode Date: May 21, 2024

150,000,000 years ago the Earth was a completely different place. Dinosaurs roamed the lands, pterosaurs ruled the skies, and all manners of nightmares lurked in the waters. But this barely does justice in describing the wonder that was Earth during this time period, which was also known as the golden age of dinosaurs, i.e the late Jurassic!

You said this place was steps from the water. We just haven't found the steps yet. How much did we save? Enough. Enough to get lost. Or you could book a stay with Hilton. Welcome to your ocean front room. Just steps from the water.

The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari.

In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at Yamava.com must be 21-20.

Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Let's say for one second that a mad scientist has created a time machine and is forcing to pick a random period to travel to during the Mesozoic. A lot of your possible options would definitely lead to an unfortunate ending. But whatever you do, you really, really, really should not pick 150 million years ago, as this was an age where instant death was around nearly every corner.

Dinosaurs, per usual for the Mesozoic, ruled on land at the time. But even for dinosaur standards, the ones that existed back then were especially terrifying. With certain paleontologists considering this time period to be a golden age for supersized saropods and meat-loving theropods. Unfortunately, even if you could snap your fingers and make the dinosaurs go away, 150 million years ago would still be a lot of nope, with the land, oceans and skies, harboring a lot of secrets that were, let's just say, unfriendly to life. Welcome to the late Jurassic. During this time, not even a map would do you much good, as Earth's landmasses were fairly unrecognizable compared to current versions, with North America arguably being the most

like its current self, having at least maintained a similar shape. Familiarity ends here, though. As to the south lays a giant mass emerged continents that formed together what some consider to have been the last supercontinent, Gondwana. This ancient landmass was composed of South America, the Arabian Peninsula, India, Antarctica, and Australia, creating the largest continent of the late Jurassic, which covered almost one of the Earth's entire surface, and from space would have looked like a mega blob of land. Surprisingly, not even Gondwana was the most foreign-looking continent at the time,

with that title going to La Rasia, a giant continent within its own right that was made up of present-day Europe, Greenland, and parts of Asia. It, unlike the rest of the Earth, was absolutely covered by expansive waters that split and isolated much of the land, resulting in the countries we know of today being smaller and composed of numerous islands. Europe in particular was an island paradise that bore nearly no resemblance to the present. Its location was quite different too, being closer to North America than it is today. Meanwhile, China was right next to Iran and Turkey, yet extremely far away from India. Evidently, the geography was rather confusing, to say the least.

Thankfully, however, late Jurassic oceanography wasn't. Since only two major bodies of water existed, the Pacific Ocean and the Tethyst Ocean. The Tethys was already an ancient ocean at the time, having existed for over 100 million years. It covered the eastern hemisphere and had recently experienced significant tectonic activity, which had raised it up, resulting in the higher sea levels that submerged large parts of Laurasia. Despite getting this tectonic boost, it was still smaller than the younger, yet still 50 million-year-old, Pacific Ocean, which now dominated the entire Western Hemisphere and would continue to expand as time passed. The late Jurassic also saw the emergence of yet another body of water we all know of, the Atlantic Ocean,

although at the time it resembled a sea more than anything else, being nearly entirely surrounded by land. The Atlantic's temperatures were also unlike they are today, being remarkably warmer. And this was actually a trend seen worldwide, with seawater averaging 32.1 degrees Celsius or 90 degrees Fahrenheit, making it 25% hotter than the current average. Even in the deepest parts of the Pacific, temperatures were still considerably warmer, hovering around 17 degrees Celsius or 63 degrees Fahrenheit, akin to tap water. This heightened temperature is often attributed to the increased tectonic activity of the time, which would have led to very active volcanoes,

thus spewing massive amounts of CO2 into the water. Currently, paleontologists are actually aware of a few of these now extinct volcanoes, one of which is Earth's largest known volcano, Tamu Masif. This absolute unit is located 1,600 kilometers or 990 miles east of Japan and covers more seafloor than the state of California, while standing almost twice as tall as Mount St. Helens. During its active life, Tamu Masif would have made the oceans more acidic and heated up the atmosphere, leading to warmer conditions on land as well. In fact, 150 million years ago was most likely just about the warmest period in the entire

Jurassic, with an average daily temperature of 20 degrees Celsius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit, nearly 15% warmer than today. With this heat, Earth was experiencing climactic conditions that it hadn't for nearly 50 million years, with both the northern and southern hemisphere witnessing significant amounts of dry biomes, including deserts and savannas, which could be quite harsh on animals, considering that most also a distinct dry season, where severe droughts were not unheard of. Towards the equator, things got a little less cutthroat, as drier ecosystems gave way to lush expanse of tropical forests that covered the vast majority of North Africa. However, the most toned-down conditions were not found there either, rather near and within the

polar regions, since back then they were not brutally cold tundras, but rather temperate biomes similar to modern-day Central Europe. The polar regions were so much warmer back then that they didn't even have ice sheets or glaciers. And as a result, life was absolutely plentiful. And even in the harsher, arid climates closer to the equator, life still found away, with the richest known formations actually hailing from these brutal areas. Dinosaurs in particular thrived, and were enjoying a level of diversification never yet seen. Of all the groups lumbering around, theropods, saropods, neornathiscians, and armored dinosaurs were the most established, with multiple species from each group, often being found within a single ecosystem,

resulting in a chaoticness rarely seen during the Mesozoic. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the Morse information, which was an expanse of North American biosphere that spanned across 13 states and was composed of arid savannas, forests, and Trubland. So far, over 40 dinosaurs are known to have resided there, including at least 10 different theropods, nearly all of which were big enough to hunt human-sized animals. Yet, unlike the Cretaceous, the Morrison's most dominant carnivores were not Tyrannosaurs,

who had yet to evolve. Rather, Allisoridae. The most abundant of them all was the allosaurus. Typically dubbed the lion of the Jurassic, thanks to its striking appearance. It was a nearly unstoppable predator who sported razor-sharp teeth and a blood-inducing slashing bite that allowed it to hunt a wide range of herbivores. Studies have suggested that it may have even hunted in packs as well. But whatever the case, it undeniably dominated the lands, accounting for 75% of all carnivore remains.

With such numbers, you'd expect it to be a small yet plentiful creature. But no, alasaurus was a giant by current standards, with adults weighing an average of 1.7 tons and measuring 8.5 meters or 28 feet in length. This comfortably made it one of the biggest predators around. But remarkably, even it, wasn't the biggest terrestrial predator on Earth. with that title going to the Saraphaganax, which happened to live in North America as well. This, like the Allosaurus, was a member of the Allisoridae family, and could weigh up to five tons, equivalent to nearly four adult giraffes. In addition to classification, it was similar to the allosaurus in many ways, both possessing robust arms, sharp claws, serrated teeth, and extinct crests.

But yet differed in the shape of its vertebrae and obviously body size. Alongside these two, there were still more carnivores who called the Morrison Formation home, with the most well-known ones, including the Saratosaurus, Torvosaurus, and the mysterious Edmarka Rex. Both of the latter were megalosauridae, and were also, again, gigantic, being more comparable to the Sarofaganax than other carnivores, with large specimens of Torvosaurus weighing around four tons, while the Edmarka Rex could have weighed just as much as the Sarofaganax. On the other hand, seratosaurus, while ferocious, was a large step down from the giant carnivores mentioned,

with large adults being similar in weight to polar bears, so obviously still not small by any means. Regardless, many still consider it to be the underdog of the Jurassic, overlooking its agility and deadly bite that made it a highly successful predator. And most also forget the giant size was the exception, not the rule, since most Morrison predators were medium-sized like the serratosaurus or even smaller. For example, troodontids and early primitive relatives of Tyrannosaurus made up the bulk of these smaller carnivores, who seldomly stood above a human's waist and stature. This may make you wonder how such small carnivores stood a chance in an ecosystem ruled by behemoths.

And the answer is simple, niching. Instead of contesting and competing with each other, predators would just occupy different ecological niches, which is exemplified by serratosaurus and allosaurus, with the former being found near bodies of water, whereas the allosaurus preferred open terrestrial spaces. This helped keep the peace in a theropod-rich environment. But peace was not always possible, as North America and much of the Earth were subjected to severe droughts that drove nearly all to violence. With fossilized remains indicating extreme amounts of cannibalism, theropod-on-therapod

violence and scavenging. It was during these moments that being smaller was an advantage, because it meant much less calories were needed to survive. And this of course applied to small herbivores as well, which were mainly made up of Neornathiscians. More than five kinds are known from 150 million years ago, but a couple of the more common ones would have been the cougar-sized Dryasaurus and the larger Camposaurus that weighed about half a ton.

Despite their size differences, both at similar diets composed of ground-level plants, and the two also tragically shared a lack of defenses. With speed being their only real plan A, plan B, and plan C, for that matter. This problem, however, was not at all common for other herbivores, as many became ruthless themselves in order to ward off theropods, like the iconic stegosaurus, who happened to also be the largest non-sarapod you could find, with exceptional adults reaching 9 meters or 30 feet in length, and weighing 5.5 tons. Not to mention, it also had a thagamizer, which while may sound funny, would have felt terrible

for potential predators, as this was the large bony spikes attached to the end of its tail, turning it into a potent weapon individuals could use to pierce the bone of attacking carnivores, as evidenced in fossils by one unlucky allosaurus. And Stegosaurus wasn't the only herbivore with a good theropodototot in these lands, as fresh on the scene was My Murapelta, one of the oldest known in Kylo's. It was considerably smaller than its later relatives, with adults only weighing 562 kilograms or 1,239 pounds. Yet, it did have the trademarked heavy armor that made Enkylores famous, with osteoderms

spreading across the entirety of its upper body. These osteoderms varied in size and sometimes had sharpened edges, particularly when located near vulnerable spots. Sadly though, armor was no thagamizer, and numerous remains of this in Kailasor, and numerous remains of this Enkylosaur were found with signs of predation by theropods. Such a fate presumably extended to other existing armored dinosaurs as well, which included another Enkylosaurus, the Gargoylosaurus, and the Stegasaurid Alcovasaurus. At this point, you may be tired of hearing about so many dinosaurs, but to really drive home the fact that this was one of their golden ages,

you cannot forget about the most abundant dinosaurs of them all, Sarapods. In fact, 150 million years ago may have been the apex period for this group, as they were typically the most common dinosaurs about, with Camarasaurus holding the title the most abundant animal in the Western hemisphere. But it was by no means alone, and a mix of different Sarapodd families ran rampant, with the two key players being the Diplodicids and the Macronarians. Both of these families were powerhouses with multiple iconic members. Some of them including household names like Brachiosaurus, Diplodocusaurus, Berosaurus, Brontosaurus, Apatosaurus, and the honorable mention Marapunosaurus, which belonged to neither family but was absolutely massive. And in reality,

every Sorapod alive then, including those unmentioned, were pretty massive, with the smallest weighing 13 tons, while the largest sat around 70 tons. How many discounts does USAA auto insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi-vehicle discount, safe driver discount, New vehicle discount, storage discount, legacy. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usaa.com slash auto discounts. Restrictions apply. When you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work,

use Indeed sponsor jobs. It gives your job post the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people with the right skills, certifications, and more. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Listeners of this shell will get a $75 sponsor job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Naturally, with such crazy

funna, many have been amazed by the Morrison since its discovery. And yet incredibly, the Morrison wasn't exactly special, as much of the world had similar ecosystems where the same groups of dinosaurs dominated. And in some places, even the exact same dinosaurs could be found. For instance, if you try to escape the allosaurus, serratosaurus, or torvosaurus, by fleeing to Europe, you'd still run into them. While on the flip side, you could also experience some absolutely great Sarapod sightseeing in Gondwana, where evidence of brachiosaurus, berosaurus, and chimarasaurus were found. And even dinosaurs' unique to other landmasses still tended to follow the same trends

seen in the Morrison, with many having counterparts across the globe. For example, Tanzania had the Titanic Derafit Titan, which played a similar ecological role as Brachiosaurus. Additionally, Tanzania also saw the likes of Kentrosaurus, the Stegasorian counterpart and close relative of Stegosaurus. In Europe, the exact situation is again seen, with saropods like the Oceanot Titan and Stegosaurus like Decentaurus, peppering the land. Where Gondwana and Europe differed, however, was that they had a new kind of Theropod

family not yet seen in North America or anywhere else for that matter, and that is the Carcoredontosaurus, which were partially characterized by high neural spines, proportionally long arms, and long narrow skulls. The oldest and first of them to evolve was the Vedaru Pristosaurus, which resided in Tanzania and weighed up to 1.65 tons and likely hunted a mix of stegosaurs and juvenile saropods. Strangely in China, which wasn't far away from Europe, Carcoredontosaurus weren't found, although they had their very own unique apex predator, the Yangtuanosaurus. Following the trend, this was a monstrous theropod that was nearly as long as the largest torvosaurus and weighed up to 3.4 tons, making it the largest predator in all of Asia.

From a distance, you may mistake it for a unit of an allosaurus, since the two were closely related and shared many similar features, but they were not cut from the same cloth. As Yangtuanosaurus, was not an Allisord a member, rather a metriacanthosaurid, which in Greek means moderately spined lizards. So it's not surprising that this group's defining trait was, well, moderately sized spines. Beyond the uniqueness of Yangtuanosaurus, Asia was again much like the rest of the world, with the four main groups reigning supreme and bearing multiple species.

Some of the most well-known that lived at the time included Mementchi-saurus, Yingshanosaurus, donosaurus, and Lachanosaurus. And it wasn't just the dinosaurs that would have made your eyes widen, as the late Jurassic accommodated a wide range of non-dinosaurs too, with the most dominant being crocodila forms. Like dinosaurs, they came in a variety of sizes and inhabited a diverse range of habitats, but were usually on the smaller side comparatively. Most, like the gator-sized amphicodalis or semi-aquatic, hunting down fish, amphibians, and turtles that dwelt near them. But a few were actually fully terrestrial and could appear fairly nightmarish, as seen with Halipus, who had slender skinny limbs giving it an odd unsettling appearance. Although you wouldn't have to worry, because Halepis was a tiny creature that rarely grew taller

than a boot, and mostly stuck to insects and other small prey. The other terrestrial crocs were quite small too, likely a result of living in the shadow of dinosaurs. And another group that ran into this size problem as well was our very own ancestors. The mammaliforms. By now they'd been around for over 100 million years, and were well adapted for a mix of lifestyles, with older fossils showing that some had developed the ability to glide,

climb trees, and be semi-aquatic. Their diets were also quite versatile, with some specializing in plants, while others nibbled on meat or dabbled in both areas, as seen with the omnivorous Gima Rotodon, who may even have scavenged on dinosaurs. Yet, it was still like other mammalia forms, which is to say, small, as on average these guys were no bigger than a shrew, making them hard to notice among so many Titans.

Nonetheless, there was a group that wasn't exactly giant but were hard to miss. And these were the pterosaurs. The pterosaurs had established controlled the skies roughly 80 million years prior to this point, and flew mostly unchallenged. Interestingly, though, they weren't very populous, as only a few remains from the time are known. Yet their bones were geologically widespread, indicating a successful conquest across the significant portion of Earth. Typically, late Jurassic Terosaurs seemed to a preferred marine and shoreline habitats where they could fill their stomachs with fish, insects, shellfish, and carry-on. It's also been hypothesized that the largest terasors could have actively hunted certain

terrestrial creatures, with the biggest teresore being Lusignathis. This terasor lived in Europe and was a leviathan compared to co-existing relatives, with an estimated wingspan of 3.6 meters or 12 feet, which along with sharp straight teeth, could have enabled it to hunt other pterosaurs, considering that most were less than half its size. And as king of flyers, the Lusignathus didn't have much to worry about. Although it wasn't alone, as along with terrors, bird-like dinosaurs had managed to take flight as well. In that day and age, they were still a novelty and very rare, with only one kind being known from that specific era, the Archaeopteryx.

This dinosaur is extremely monumental to paleontology, as it is the earliest known capable of powered flight. There are other contenders for this title, too, who date back to 165 million years ago, but thus far, many paleontologists argue on the classification of these older animals. The Archaeopteryx would have used its flying abilities to hunt small prey, including reptiles and insects, and escaped predators, as it was a tiny fellow who was similar in size to a modern-day magpie. With so much life around you and above you, you probably won't be surprised to know that the waters were home to many as well, with the major difference being that while a lot of creatures on land were wondrous, the oceans and seas were namely

home to pure nightmares, notably the pleasosaurs. These were marine reptiles that were distinguished by flat bodies, short tails, four flippers, and had a cosmopolitan distribution, meaning they could be found worldwide. They greatly varied in size, and many were apex predators, with the most terrifying of the bunch being the pliosaur family. While we commonly imagine pleasiosaurus with long narrow necks, pliosaurs were the ones that had short necks and massive skulls, filled with sharp, conical teeth, which allowed them to hunt down medium and large-sized prey. You've probably heard of the most famous one, the Lypluridon, but it had actually been dead for 5 million years at the time. Not to worry, though, as the late Jurassic found an even bigger, more terrifying replacement.

The Pliasaurus. Adults of this Pliosaur were among the largest ever recorded, reaching up to 10 meters or 33 feet in length, and weighed 5 tons. With their size, they easily killed whatever they could catch, including what we consider the jaws of the modern oceans, sharks. And now, this isn't to say that sharks were chumps back then. Yet, they were no pliosaur and didn't come close in size. But they still would have been a problem for more toned-down animals, including fish, and another famous staple of Mesozoic oceans, the Icteosaurs. While Ictheasors had been the true giants for millions of years during the Triassic and early Jurassic,

they had experienced a size decline in these days, mainly due to competition with the Pleasiosors. However, this battle definitely wasn't once. sighted, as shallow seas and open oceans still had plenty of different ichthyosaurus species that fill different niches and could be up to 7 meters or 23 feet long, which is crazy to think about when considering that Triassic ichthosaurs were sometimes almost four times bigger, making them absolutely horrifying to say the least. Don't panic, though, as this time period had one more trick up its sleeve to give you nightmares, and that is the Thaladosukians, commonly nicknamed the Marine Crocodiles.

In reality, they weren't really true crocodiles, rather primitive distant relatives. Though they did superficially resemble modern crocs, with the biggest difference coming from their limbs and tails, which in certain members had evolved into flippers to provide locomotion. Like many other animals, these marine crocs were found globally, and in some locations were apex predators. They had compressed and serrated teeth that allowed them to sheer chunks of flesh off prey, which consisted of fish,

ichthyosaurus, small pleasiosaurs, and turtles. The two largest living members, Dachosaurus, and Machimosaurus, may have hunted large animals too. And coincidentally, Macimosaurus was actually the largest marine crock we know of, with adults being equal to the largest ichthyosaurus in length, and giving potential time travelers

just one more reason to avoid Earth 150 million years ago. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank.