Monsters that live at the bottom of the ocean. Real sea monsters (photo). Perhaps you will be interested

Incredible Facts

modern ocean is home to many incredible creatures, many of which we have no idea. You never know what lies there - in the dark cold depths. However, none of them can be compared with the ancient monsters that dominated the world's oceans millions of years ago.

In this article, we will tell you about pangolins, carnivorous fish and predatory whales that terrorized marine life in prehistoric times.

prehistoric world

Megalodon

The Megalodon may be the most famous creature on this list, but it's hard to imagine that a school bus-sized shark actually ever existed. Nowadays, there are many different scientific films and programs about these amazing monsters.

Contrary to popular belief, megalodons did not live at the same time as dinosaurs. They dominated the seas from 25 to 1.5 million years ago, which means that they missed the last dinosaur by 40 million years. In addition, this means that the first people found these sea monsters alive.

The home of the megalodon was the warm ocean, which existed until the last ice age in the early Pleistocene, and it is believed that it was he who deprived these huge sharks of food and the opportunity to breed. Perhaps in this way nature has protected modern humanity from terrible predators.

Liopleurodon

If there was a water scene in the Jurassic Park movie that included several sea monsters of the time, the Liopleurodon would definitely appear in it. Despite the fact that scientists argue about the real length of this animal (some claim that it reached 15 meters), most of them agree that it was about 6 meters, with the pointed head of Liopleurodon occupying a fifth of the length.

Many people think that 6 meters is not so much, but the smallest representative of these monsters is able to swallow an adult. Scientists have recreated a model of Liopleurodon's fins and tested them.

In the course of their research, they found that these prehistoric animals were not so fast, but they were agile. They were also capable of making short, quick and sharp attacks, similar topics, which make modern crocodiles, which makes them even more awesome.

sea ​​monsters

Basilosaurus

Despite the name and appearance, they are not reptiles, as it might seem at first glance. In fact, these are real whales (and not the most intimidating in this squeak!). Basilosaurus were the predatory ancestors of modern whales and ranged from 15 to 25 meters in length. It is described as a whale, somewhat resembling a snake due to its length and ability to squirm.

It is hard to imagine that, while swimming in the ocean, one could stumble upon a huge creature that looked like a snake, a whale and a crocodile at the same time 20 meters long. The fear of the ocean would stick with you for a long time.

Physical evidence suggests that basilosaurs did not have the same cognitive abilities as modern whales. In addition, they did not have the ability to echolocate and could only move in two dimensions (which means that they could not actively dive and dive to great depths). Thus, this terrible predator was as stupid as a bag of prehistoric tools and would not be able to follow you if you dived or made landfall.

Racoscorpions

No wonder the words "sea scorpion" evoke only negative emotions, however, this representative of the list was the most creepy of them. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae is special kind crustaceans, which was the largest and most fearsome arthropod of the time: 2.5 meters of pure clawed horror under the shell.

Many of us are terrified of small ants or large spiders, but imagine the full range of fear experienced by a person who would not be lucky enough to meet this sea monster.

On the other hand, these creepy creatures became extinct even before the event that killed all dinosaurs and 90% of life on Earth. Only some types of crabs survived, which are not so scary. There is no evidence that ancient sea scorpions were venomous, but based on the structure of their tail, we can conclude that perhaps this was indeed the case.

See also: A huge sea monster washed up on the coast of Indonesia

prehistoric animals

Mauisaurus

Mauisaurus was named after ancient god Maori Maui, who, according to legend, pulled the skeleton of New Zealand from the bottom of the ocean with a hook, so that only by the name you can understand that this animal was huge. The neck of the Mauisaurus was about 15 meters long, which is quite a lot compared to its total length of 20 meters.

His incredible neck had many vertebrae, which gave it a special flexibility. Imagine a turtle without a shell with amazing long neck- this is what this terrible creature looked like.

He lived during Cretaceous, which meant that the unfortunate creatures that jumped into the water to escape the velociraptors and tyrannosaurs were forced to face these sea monsters. The habitats of the Mauisaurs were limited to the waters of New Zealand, which indicated that all the inhabitants were in danger.

Dunkleosteus

Dunkleosteus was a ten-meter predatory monster. Huge sharks lived much longer than dunkleostei, but this did not mean that they were the best predators. Instead of teeth, Dunkleosteus had bony growths, like some species of modern turtles. Scientists have calculated that their bite force was 1500 kilograms per square centimeter, which put them on par with crocodiles and tyrannosaurs and made them one of the creatures with the strongest bite.

Based on the facts about their jaw muscles, scientists concluded that the Dunkleosteus could open its mouth in one fiftieth of a second, absorbing everything in its path. As the fish matured, the single bony tooth plate was replaced by a segmented one, which made it easier to get food and bite through the thick shells of other fish. In the arms race called the prehistoric ocean, the Dunkleosteus was a real well-armoured, heavy tank.

Sea monsters and monsters of the deep

Kronosaurus

Kronosaurus is another short-necked lizard that looks like a Liopleurosaurus. Remarkably, its true length is also known only approximately. It is believed that it reached up to 10 meters, and its teeth reached up to 30 cm in length. That is why it was named after Kronos, the king of the ancient Greek titans.

Now guess where this monster lived. If your assumption was related to Australia, then you are absolutely right. The head of the Kronosaurus was about 3 meters long and it was able to swallow an entire adult human. In addition, after that, there was room inside the animal for another half.

Also, due to the fact that the flippers of kronosaurs were similar in structure to the flippers of a turtle, scientists concluded that they were very distantly related and assumed that kronosaurs also got out on land to lay their eggs. In any case, we can be sure that the nests of these sea ​​monsters no one dared to destroy.

Helicoprion

This shark is 4.5 meters long lower jaw was a kind of curl, strewn with teeth. She looked like a hybrid of a shark with a buzz saw, and everyone knows that when dangerous power tools become part of a predator that is at the top the food chain the whole world trembles.

The teeth of the helicoprion were serrated, which clearly indicates the carnivorous nature of this sea monster, but scientists still do not know for sure whether the jaw was pushed forward as in the photo, or slightly pushed deep into the mouth.

These creatures survived the Triassic mass extinction, which could indicate their high intelligence, but the reason could also be their living in the deep sea.

prehistoric sea monsters

Leviathan Melvilla

Earlier in this article we already talked about predatory whales. Melville's Leviathan is the most intimidating of them all. Imagine a huge orca-sperm whale hybrid. This monster was not just carnivorous - it killed and ate other whales. It had the largest teeth of any animal known to us.

Their length sometimes reached 37 centimeters! They lived in the same oceans at the same time and ate the same food as megalodons, thus competing with the largest predatory shark of the time.

Their huge head was equipped with the same sonar devices as modern whales, which made their hunting more successful in muddy water. If it was not clear to someone from the very beginning, this animal was named after Leviathan - a giant sea monster from the Bible and Herman Melville, who wrote the famous "Moby Dick". If Moby Dick were one of the Leviathans, he would certainly eat the Pequod with his entire crew.

SEA MONSTERS AND MONSTERS OF THE DEEP OCEANS
The waters of the oceans hide the most incredible landscape on Earth. But the light penetrates everything a few tens of meters below the surface of the water, and the ocean depths are pitch black. When exploring the depths, new types of strange creatures are constantly being discovered. In this article we want to tell you aboutsea ​​monsters and monsters of the deep oceans.

The water temperature in such places is extremely low, sometimes reaching 2-4 degrees Celsius. main stream nutrients comes from above, these are organo-mineral particles, which scientists call sea snow, or the remains of dead animals, with even more interesting name rain of corpses.

The oceans cover more than 70% of the surface of our planet, man has so far studied no more than 10% of everything that happens in the waters of the world's oceans. Today we want to talk about the inhabitants of the deep ocean, living at a depth of more than 200-300 meters. Life at such depths has left an imprint on the underwater inhabitants. For the most part, they have a transparent color, due to the lack of light, most of them have excellent eyesight, the rest are completely devoid of it. The bottom at depth is usually covered with silt, so those who move along the bottom have long stilted limbs.

Many animals use bioluminescence to light up or attract prey, some of them communicate in this way, indicate the danger that lies in wait for those who try to encroach on their lives. Thus, in the deep sea world, the means of communication by means of luminescence plays a greater role than communication by means of sounds. Thus, the inhabitants of the depths adapted to survival.

Having lowered to an incredible depth of over 400 meters, scientists stumbled upon a hitherto unknown creature, similar to a giant transparent snake, glowing along the entire length of its body. The dimensions amaze everyone, it was more than 41 meters long. This is something unimaginable, beautiful, causing respect and fear. Along the entire length of the body transparent snake transparent, thin tentacles, almost invisible to the eye, hang down, hitting which not a single fish can escape. Scientists have come to a standstill when trying to classify this animal, whether it is a colonial or an individual super-organism. And yet they decided that this is a super organism that catches fish in its hanging tentacles, as seen in the photo.

Once we wrote about rare fish Macropine, which has a transparent head through which its brain is visible, the eyes are located inside the dome and point upwards. Scientists for a long time could not understand how this fish eats if it has no idea what it is, while its eyes are directed upwards. But after much observation, scientists have found that she is able to turn her eyeballs forward. So Makropina follows a forty-meter snake, and when she sees a fish stuck in the tentacles of a predator, she pulls it out, turns her eyes in front and swims away.
Unfortunately for scientists, it is not possible to catch all types of organisms they observe at a depth, so the dome of Macropina raised to the surface bursts due to pressure drop, which complicates the study of this species. Or how do you imagine lifting a snake more like a jellyfish to the surface from a depth of forty meters.
So scientists, not being able to obtain visual samples, only classify deep sea inhabitants and draw conclusions by observing them.

In our time, scientists are very concerned about commercial fishing, when after catching tens of tons of fish that are in demand in the markets, only a small part of the catch is caught, the rest is simply thrown away. The discarded catch contains many deep-sea species that are rapidly declining in population.
Just like trees, fish bones have rings that indicate the age of the fish, usually fish live for about 20-30 years, but after learning data from sections of deep-sea fish, scientists were shocked, average age fished deep-sea monsters amounted to 200 years! So it turns out, the slaves that lived for two hundred years were exterminated overnight, the restoration of the population will take much longer than their catch. According to calculations, ocean fish could be caught by the middle of the next century, a figure that horrifies scientists.

Unfortunately, by collecting the catch from the bottom with nets, fishermen catch not only fish, but also corals, which are the most important for the life of the oceans.

Next, we want to bring to your attention a video of underwater filming of sea monsters, inhabitants of the depths.

Did you know that terrible creatures live at the bottom of the ocean? The truth is that we know more about our universe than we do about the oceans on our own planet. In fact, even to this day, we are discovering new creatures lurking in depths where the sunlight. To be honest, some of these deep sea dwellers are pretty creepy. Here are 25 scariest sea monsters you didn't know about!

25. Tongue Eating Crustacean

We'll start small. This terrible creature penetrates the fish through the gills, eats its tongue, and then sticks to the place where it used to be.

24. Chimera

Photo: wikimedia commons

The Rat Fish or Ghost Fish, the Chimera is known as one of the most ancient fish in existence today. They live very deep, in the dark, so the appearance of this monster is sure to be reflected in your nightmares. Just look at that face!

23. Corrugated Shark

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

With a triple row of sharp teeth, this deep sea ​​shark can damage anything it catches. Plus, she just looks creepy.

22. Terrible Claw Lobster

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

This lobster, discovered in 2007 off the coast of the Philippines, was named very accurately. Look at those claws! This guy could cut you into pieces like a cheese.

21. Water Bear

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

While most of the creatures on our list are quite large, these are quite tiny. Even... microscopic! What is strange about them is their durability. They can survive in almost any temperature and can also live without water for more than ten years!

20. Mola Mola

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Also known as Sunfish or Moonfish, sounds good, doesn't it? But, think again, because she weighs over 900 kg! And while the fish won't attack you (it feeds on jellyfish), it can be quite intimidating when you see the fish with the heaviest bones coming towards you!

19. Giant squid

Photo: pixabay

These monsters can grow up to 18 meters in length. And their eyes are as big as beach balls! And yes, their food habits are as bad as you can imagine. They grab their prey with their tentacles and then stuff it into their beak. The squid then crushes it with its tooth-covered tongue before the food enters the esophagus. It is very similar to a meat grinder.

18. Pelagic bigmouth shark

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Discovered in 1976, this huge shark attracts plankton with the light it emits from its mouth. Don't swim into the light!

17. Galper eel

Photo: fishbase.org

Given that these marine creatures live at depths of thousands of meters, little is known about them. But, we know for sure that the huge jaws of the fish allow it to swallow prey as large as itself.

16 Goblin Shark

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Just one look at this shark will make most of us shudder. What's more, the mouths of the truly terrifying creatures seem to detach during the hunt in order to grab their prey more quickly.

15. Grenadier

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Although the Grenadier looks a little strange, the disgusting factor is not always commensurate with appearance. This deep sea fish gives off a terrible smell from behind high level the trimethylamine oxide it contains.

14. Pike blenny

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Although this fish is practically harmless to humans, when the dog is in danger, it opens its huge mouth to scare off predators. Whether you're human or not, one look at this would make you get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

13 Giant Isopod

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

Found at depths of nearly 2,000 meters, these scavengers can grow up to 3 meters or more in length. Moreover, they existed even before the dinosaurs. How? They know how to survive. For four years, these creatures can go without food. Even if they won't eat you, just imagine that you stumble upon such a creature in the depths of the sea. In fact, it's just a sea cockroach, which more human to size. And we are afraid of cockroaches when they are only a few centimeters in length ....

12. Fanged fish

Photo: wikimedia commons

These bad guys live at a depth of 5000 meters. Here, the water pressure can crush a person. If you don't get squashed, get ready to be mashed to a pulp by your horrible teeth. In fact, this aptly named underwater monster boasts the largest teeth relative to its body size of any fish.

11. Crooked Tooth Fish

Photo: wikimedia commons

This creepy fish has hooked teeth that help it catch its prey. In addition, she lives at incredible depths where sunlight does not penetrate. So if you ever happen to see this terrifying creature, its glowing skin and nightmarish teeth are likely to leave you with terrible memories!

10. Black Dragonfish

Photo: wikimedia commons

With razor-sharp teeth, this alien-like fish lives deep in the ocean and generates its own light.

9 Giant Spider Crab

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Sometimes we are just afraid of size. Descending to a depth of 300 meters, you will find yourself big crab on the ground. It can reach 4 meters!

8 Pacific Snakefish

Photo: wikimedia commons

Living miles below the surface of the ocean, these creatures boast teeth so big they can't even close their mouths.

7. Squid is a vampire

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Its name, Vampyroteuthis infernalis, literally translates to "vampire squid from hell". Why? This underwater squid lives underwater where no sunlight can penetrate, and if you attack it, the squid will turn inside out, exposing dozens of thorny spines. What could be worse? Imagine if a person did this...

6. Drop fish

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

While this creature won't hurt you, it can make you want to go deep sea diving. The blobfish has even been called "the ugliest creature" and looking at this photo, it becomes clear why. She is so disgusting that it becomes scary!

5. Johnson Melanocete (Humpback Monkfish)

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

This deep-sea monster lures its prey with a glowing stick that protrudes from its head.

4. Grimpoteuthys (Octopus Dumbo)

Photo: wikimedia commons

While they may look quite cute, these guys are known for wrapping their prey in frill-like "hands" before they eat it.

3. Eye-like-a-barrel fish (Ghost fish)

Photo: wikimedia commons

This completely crazy-looking deep-sea creature has a transparent head, allowing the fish to look up with its barrel-like eyes. Imagine that while you are swimming in ocean depth, a transparent head with two disgusting eyes inside approaches you. Although this fish will not eat you, its disgusting appearance is enough to regret this meeting.

2. Stargazer fish

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

They burrow into the ocean floor, exposing their bulging eyes-balls. When an unfortunate fish swims up, they ... eat it.

1. Black Liver

Photo: wikimedia commons

Perhaps the most scary creature on our list, this fish can swallow prey more than twice its size and 10 times its weight.

From time immemorial, people have been fascinated by the beauty and power of the ocean. The bottomless waters of the seas have always kept some secret and danger. Stories and legends speak of monsters living in the depths of the sea.

Do you believe in them? Let's talk about the most famous of them.

Loch Ness monster

The most famous sea monster, which, by and large, is freshwater and not marine, but it is possible that it can live in salt water.

He is also often referred to as Nessie.

This unknown creature was first discovered in 1933, and there is still no clear evidence that it existed or exists.

Photos of him appear in the press from time to time, but scientific communities of all countries doubt their authenticity.

However, it remains one of the most popular legendary creatures, and many researchers are still trying to find evidence of its existence.

Although most scientists do not believe in Nessie, they admit that if it exists, it is a descendant of a “dinosaur” with a long neck and webbed feet.

They say that the animal is completely harmless and prefers to eat only fish.

The name Iku-Turso is translated as "thousand-horned" or "having a thousand tentacles." In modern Finnish, his name can be translated as "octopus"

In Finnish mythology, there is a mention of the malevolent Iku-Turso, who is also called the eternal Turso.

Lives in Atlantic Ocean, wreaking havoc wherever it appears.

Its appearance is quite interesting. He is depicted as a horned and bearded monster, which, judging by his appearance, obviously does not feed on fish.

They say that he used to be very dangerous, but the Finnish epic "Kalevala" says that one day Iku-Turso was captured and gave his word in exchange for the freedom to behave well.

Now he lives only in the ocean, and does not appear on land.

In Japanese folk tales, there is a character named Umibozu.

It is said that when the priest drowned, his spirit was filled with the power of the ocean and turned into a huge dark-headed creature that looked like a man.

However, Umibozu is not only the soul of a drowned priest.

This word is now called any restless souls of the dead.

Attempts to communicate with them cause a storm, and the ships sink.

Sometimes Umibozu asks the sailors to give him a barrel, but if you do, he will immediately grab you and drown you in the same barrel.

Hydra protects lakes and oceans, it can live in both salty and fresh water.

The Hydra is huge and almost impossible to kill.

If one head is cut off, two new ones will grow in its place.

The Greek hero Hercules, who for some reason is often called Hercules, ultimately defeated her.

He was helped in this by his nephew, who noticed that if one head is cut off and cauterized by fire, new heads will not appear.

So, the Hydra was defeated by two brave Greeks, but the fact that even Hercules, known for his incredible strength, needed help to fight her, speaks of how powerful she is.

Any huge one is called Leviathan, but did you know that it is also mentioned in the Bible?

The Book of Job tells about him and describes him as a powerful fire-breathing creature of incredible size.

They say that it was impossible to kill him, and the monster died by itself from old age.

Most illustrations of the monster show it as a snake or whale with a long, thick body.

The powerful body, huge teeth and the evil nature of the Leviathan terrify all sailors who are forced to surf the oceans.

The sea monster lives in ocean waters off the coast of Norway and Greenland.

He is depicted as giant squid or a man who has squid tentacles instead of arms.

The only thing that is constant about his appearance is his size. The Kraken is huge! Even the legendary gods and heroes are lost against its background.

Anyone who cares about life will beware of him if by sea move to Norway. This villain hates people and will do everything possible to destroy them.

Beware of it! However, he is not the most terrible. Scarier, bigger and more powerful than him...

Jörmungandr is a character in Norse mythology, also called Jörmungandr, Midgardsorm, the Midgard Serpent or the World Serpent.

Jörmungandr is so huge that it can easily embrace the entire Earth.

Have you heard of the Scandinavian god Thor, the incredibly powerful lord of lightning? So Jörmungandr will poison him to death during the end of the world, or Ragnarök.

Imagine, Jörmungandr also has poison! It would seem that its size alone is enough to easily deal with anyone.

Jörmungandr is the most dangerous and huge sea monster, which has no equal.

It turns out that sharks in the ocean are not the worst thing. There is a whole bunch of sea monsters, in comparison with which, even a large White shark seems like a harmless bastard.

The modern ocean is home to many incredible creatures, many of which we have no idea. You never know what lies there - in the dark cold depths. However, none of them can be compared with the ancient monsters that dominated the world's oceans millions of years ago.

In this article, we will tell you about pangolins, carnivorous fish and predatory whales that terrorized marine life in prehistoric times.

1. Giant stingray

What is it: 5 meters in diameter, a 25-meter-long poisonous spike on the tail and strength enough to pull a boat full of people? In this case, it is an eerie-looking flat sea creature that has lived in salt waters from the Mekong River all the way to Australia since prehistoric times to this day.

Stingrays have lived quietly in the waters of Australia since the extinction of dinosaurs and the huge predatory sharks from which they originated. They originated in prehistoric times, but they managed to survive all the ice ages, and even the terrible eruption of the Toba volcano. They are very dangerous and should not be approached. Even if you think that they are not around, you may be wrong - they are excellent at camouflage.

They are dangerous because they can attack you with a poisonous neurotoxin spike or simply damage their vital organs. The upside is that these prehistoric monsters aren't as aggressive and won't try to eat you.

2. Leviathan Melville (Livyatan melvillei)

Earlier in this article we already talked about predatory whales. Melville's Leviathan is the most intimidating of them all. Imagine a huge orca-sperm whale hybrid. This monster was not just carnivorous - it killed and ate other whales. It had the largest teeth of any animal known to us.

Their length sometimes reached 37 centimeters! They lived in the same oceans at the same time and ate the same food as megalodons, thus competing with the largest predatory shark of the time.

Their huge head was equipped with the same sonar devices as modern whales, making them more successful in murky waters. If this was not clear to someone from the very beginning, this animal was named after Leviathan - a giant sea monster from the Bible and Herman Melville, who wrote the famous "Moby Dick". If Moby Dick were one of the Leviathans, he would certainly eat the Pequod with his entire team.

3. Helicoprion (Helicoprion)

This shark, 4.5 meters long, had a serrated lower jaw lined with teeth. She looked like a hybrid shark with a buzz saw, and everyone knows that when dangerous power tools become part of a predator that is at the top of the food chain, the whole world trembles.

The teeth of the helicoprion were serrated, which clearly indicates the carnivorous nature of this sea monster, but scientists still do not know for sure whether the jaw was pushed forward as in the photo, or slightly pushed deep into the mouth.

These creatures survived the Triassic mass extinction, which could indicate their high intelligence, but their habitation could also be the reason.

4. Kronosaurus

Kronosaurus is another short-necked lizard that looks like a Liopleurosaurus. Remarkably, its true length is also known only approximately. It is believed that it reached up to 10 meters, and its teeth reached up to 30 cm in length. That is why it was named after Kronos, the king of the ancient Greek titans.

Now guess where this monster lived. If your assumption was related to Australia, then you are absolutely right. The head of the Kronosaurus was about 3 meters long and it was able to swallow an entire adult human. In addition, after that, there was room inside the animal for another half.

Also, due to the fact that the flippers of kronosaurs were similar in structure to the flippers of a turtle, scientists concluded that they were very distantly related and assumed that kronosaurs also got out on land to lay their eggs. In any case, we can be sure that no one dared to ruin the nests of these sea monsters.

5. Dunkleosteus

Dunkleosteus was a ten-meter predatory monster. Huge sharks lived much longer than dunkleostei, but this did not mean that they were the best predators. Instead of teeth, Dunkleosteus had bony growths, like some species of modern turtles. Scientists have calculated that their bite force was 1500 kilograms per square centimeter, which put them on par with crocodiles and tyrannosaurs and made them one of the creatures with the strongest bite.

Based on the facts about their jaw muscles, scientists concluded that the Dunkleosteus could open its mouth in one fiftieth of a second, absorbing everything in its path. As the fish matured, the single bony tooth plate was replaced by a segmented one, which made it easier to get food and bite through the thick shells of other fish. In the arms race called the prehistoric ocean, the Dunkleosteus was a real well-armoured, heavy tank.

6. Mauisaurus (Mauisaurus haasti)

Mauisaurus was named after the ancient Maori god Maui, who, according to legend, pulled the skeleton of New Zealand from the bottom of the ocean with a hook, so that only by the name you can understand that this animal was huge. The neck of the Mauisaurus was about 15 meters long, which is quite a lot compared to its total length of 20 meters.

His incredible neck had many vertebrae, which gave it a special flexibility. Imagine a turtle without a shell with a surprisingly long neck - this is what this terrible creature looked like.

He lived during the Cretaceous period, which meant that the unfortunate creatures jumping into the water to escape the velociraptors and tyrannosaurs were forced to come face to face with these sea monsters. The habitats of the Mauisaurs were limited to the waters of New Zealand, which indicated that all the inhabitants were in danger.

7. Shellfish (Jaekelopterus rhenaniae)

Not surprisingly, the words "sea scorpion" evoke only negative emotions, but this representative of the list was the most creepy of them. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae is a special species of crustacean that was the largest and most fearsome arthropod of the time: 2.5 meters of pure clawed terror under the shell.

Many of us are terrified of small ants or large spiders, but imagine the full range of fear experienced by a person who would not be lucky enough to meet this sea monster.

On the other hand, these creepy creatures became extinct even before the event that killed all dinosaurs and 90% of life on Earth. Only some types of crabs survived, which are not so scary. There is no evidence that ancient sea scorpions were venomous, but based on the structure of their tail, we can conclude that perhaps this was indeed the case.

8. Basilosaurus (Basilosaurus)

Despite the name and appearance, they are not reptiles, as it might seem at first glance. In fact, these are real whales (and not the most intimidating in this squeak!). Basilosaurus were the predatory ancestors of modern whales and ranged from 15 to 25 meters in length. It is described as a whale, somewhat resembling a snake due to its length and ability to squirm.

It is hard to imagine that, while swimming in the ocean, one could stumble upon a huge creature that looked like a snake, a whale and a crocodile at the same time 20 meters long. The fear of the ocean would stick with you for a long time.

Physical evidence suggests that basilosaurs did not have the same cognitive abilities as modern whales. In addition, they did not have the ability to echolocate and could only move in two dimensions (which means that they could not actively dive and dive to great depths). Thus, this terrible predator was as stupid as a bag of prehistoric tools and would not be able to follow you if you dived or made landfall.

9. Liopleurodon (Liopleurodon)

If there was a water scene in the Jurassic Park movie that included several sea monsters of the time, the Liopleurodon would definitely appear in it. Despite the fact that scientists argue about the real length of this animal (some claim that it reached 15 meters), most of them agree that it was about 6 meters, with the pointed head of Liopleurodon occupying a fifth of the length.

Many people think that 6 meters is not so much, but the smallest representative of these monsters is able to swallow an adult. Scientists have recreated a model of Liopleurodon's fins and tested them.

In the course of their research, they found that these prehistoric animals were not so fast, but they were agile. They were also capable of making short, quick and sharp attacks similar to those of modern crocodiles, which makes them even more intimidating.

10. Megalodon (Megalodon)

The Megalodon may be the most famous creature on this list, but it's hard to imagine that a school bus-sized shark actually ever existed. Nowadays, there are many different scientific films and programs about these amazing monsters.

Contrary to popular belief, megalodons did not live at the same time as dinosaurs. They dominated the seas from 25 to 1.5 million years ago, which means that they missed the last dinosaur by 40 million years. In addition, this means that the first people found these sea monsters alive.

The home of the megalodon was the warm ocean that existed until the last ice age in the early Pleistocene, and it is believed that it was he who deprived these huge sharks of food and the opportunity to breed. Perhaps in this way nature has protected modern humanity from terrible predators.

11. Dacosaurus (Dakosaurus)

Traces of the existence of dacosaurs were first found in Germany. These predatory creatures, resembling a hybrid of reptiles and fish, dominated the ocean at the time jurassic. Their remains were found on a vast territory from Russia to England and Argentina.

Although this sea monster is compared to modern crocodiles, its length averaged about 5 meters. Its huge and unique teeth have led scientists to conclude that dacosaurs were at the top of the food chain in their time.

12. Nothosaurus

Despite the fact that the body length of nothosaurs was only 4 meters, they were aggressive hunters. Their mouths were full of sharp teeth and they ate mostly fish and squid. It was believed that nothosaurs were the real experts in ambush and their bodies were ideal for sneaking up on the victim and taking her by surprise. It is generally accepted that notosaurs are inextricably linked with pliosaurs, another genus marine predators. Remains found indicate that they lived in Triassic period over 200 million years ago.

Material translated from site: toptenz.net