Largest prehistoric animals

From left to right: a polar bear (Ursus maritimus), a giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), †Paraceratherium transouralicum, †Patagotitan mayorum, two humans (Homo sapiens), †Palaeoloxodon recki, an African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) and a white rhino (Ceratotherium simum)

The largest prehistoric animals include both vertebrate and invertebrate species. Many of them are described below, along with their typical range of size (for the general dates of extinction, see the link to each). Many species mentioned might not actually be the largest representative of their clade due to the incompleteness of the fossil record and many of the sizes given are merely estimates since no complete specimen have been found. Their body mass, especially, is largely conjecture because soft tissue was rarely fossilized. Generally the size of extinct species was subject to energetic[1] and biomechanical constraints.[2]

  1. ^ Carbone, Chris; Teacher, Amber; Rowcliffe, J (2007). "The Costs of Carnivory". PLOS Biology. 5 (2): e22. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050022. PMC 1769424. PMID 17227145.
  2. ^ Hokkanen, J.E.I. (February 1986). "The size of the largest land animal". Journal of Theoretical Biology. 118 (4): 491–499. Bibcode:1986JThBi.118..491H. doi:10.1016/S0022-5193(86)80167-9. PMID 3713220.