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The world’s largest sea reptile and other ancient monsters once roamed the Earth, leaving us in awe of their sheer size and power. These prehistoric creatures were true titans, capable of crushing all hope of survival for anything in their path.
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00:01Now, imagine a creature with a body that is reminiscent of a cuttlefish,
00:05with eyes sticking out from stalks like a funky headband,
00:09fins on its tail,
00:11and a long skinny nose ending in a mouth full of teeth.
00:16Or maybe this thing could be a claw.
00:18Yep, the Tully Monster is on the move.
00:21It's definitely one of those freaky creatures you wouldn't like to face while scuba diving somewhere.
00:27Luckily, it went extinct 300 million years ago.
00:31This unusual marine beast was discovered in the 1950s in Illinois,
00:36and scientists couldn't even agree what it really was.
00:40Some thought it was a vertebrae,
00:42which means a group of creatures with a spine, like us humans.
00:45But a team of researchers in Japan studied many fossils of the Tully Monster,
00:50using advanced laser scanning technology to check them in detail in three dimensions.
00:57There's still a lot they don't know about the Tully Monster.
00:59But they managed to realize it didn't have any spine at all.
01:04Now, the next step was to see what type of invertebrate it was.
01:08Could it be vertebrate-like, such as a landslip?
01:12Or we're talking about something closer to snails and worms.
01:16They also discovered the creature had segmentation in the head area that extended from its body.
01:22And that's not something bony creatures have.
01:25Still, in recent years, some researchers had the idea the Tully Beastie could be related to jawless fish, such as
01:32lampreys.
01:34These fellows belong to the most ancient group of vertebrates, and are not pleasant to see either.
01:40In the case of lampreys, we're not talking about extinct animals.
01:44They're still out there somewhere, wandering the ocean and scaring other animals.
01:48Or you, if you see it in the northern and western parts of the Atlantic Ocean where they live.
01:53And they've been here really long, even before the dinosaurs.
01:58A long time ago, long before humans, or I, even existed, there were Eurypterids, weird creatures from a group we
02:07call arthropods, which include spiders, insects, and crabs.
02:11But Eurypterids were unlike anything you've ever seen before.
02:15They had a body shape similar to horseshoe crabs, with many segments that made up their body.
02:22Instead of legs, they had special appendages at the front that acted like ores.
02:27Some even call them giant scorpions.
02:29But most Eurypterids were actually quite small.
02:33Except for this special one, which was truly enormous.
02:36It could grow to a staggering length of about 8 feet.
02:40Wow!
02:41The next time you see a crab scuttling along the beach or a spider swimming its web.
02:45Remember, we're lucky we only got mild versions of their ancient relatives.
02:50Which, by the way, disappeared hundreds of millions of years ago.
02:56Now, some Eurypterids were pretty fierce and fast predators.
03:00They would swiftly swim after their prey, chasing them down in the water.
03:06Others were more like scavengers, living on the bottom and feeding on whatever they could find along the way.
03:12They had a taste for the leftovers, like some sort of cleanup crew of the ancient oceans.
03:18Eurypterids love to spend their time in brackish water environments.
03:22It's water with more salinity than freshwater, but still less than seawater.
03:28Now, imagine you're just floating around, and all of a sudden, you see this guy.
03:33No, it's not some weird tiny spaceship.
03:36And you won't see it floating in space, even though that's where it would perfectly fit in,
03:40as some weird creature from another planet you'd see in sci-fi movies.
03:45You'd actually see it floating in the sea, because we're talking about a really small animal with enormous eyes called
03:52Delacris.
03:53Each of its eye bulbs was about a quarter of its whole body length.
03:57That's what gives it that space look, like it might live on one of the oceans under the surface where
04:03we look for life,
04:03like Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.
04:06Or Titan, Saturn's biggest moon.
04:10I could easily imagine creatures like Delacris giving us a warm welcome once we get to Mars, too.
04:17Delacris had great vision.
04:19It would keep a keen eye out for any movement in its surroundings.
04:22Once it noticed something, it would swiftly launch its spiky appendages forward.
04:27At first, these things looked like tools for fixing stuff.
04:30But Delacris actually used them to capture smaller arthropods.
04:36The unusual thing is that, even though it had such great eyesight,
04:41Delacris still spent most of its time catching prey in brighter waters near the surface.
04:46And yet, scientists found its fossils in the rock layers that are more often associated with darker environments,
04:52where animals such as deep-sea crinoids and vampire squids reside today.
04:58It's confusing.
05:00But one of the explanations for this says it's possible these deep-sea creatures
05:05actually lived in shallower waters in the past,
05:08and later ended up in the depths as the geography of our planet changed over time.
05:15No one knew what Delacris really was.
05:18It could belong to a group of arthropods.
05:20And it seems to me that's where most of the world's weirdest creatures are.
05:25Some believe it could be related to mantis shrimp,
05:28while others compare it to blind, worm-like crustaceans that live in dark underwater caves.
05:34And check out this enormous worm lurking beneath the sandy ocean floor,
05:39patiently waiting for its next meal to swim by.
05:43These ancient creatures were like stealthy predators,
05:46perfectly camouflaged in their sandy lairs.
05:48And now, 20 million years later, scientists have found the remains of their hidden hideaways.
05:55The burrow they discovered, shaped like the letter L,
05:58was found preserved in ancient sediment on the seafloor of Taiwan.
06:03It was around 7 feet long and only an inch wide.
06:07That's where the ancestors of modern bobbit worms lived.
06:12Bobbit worms have been around for a long time.
06:15They can grow to be a few inches to a whopping 10 feet long.
06:20A pretty weird creature dominated the skies at the end of the dinosaur age in North America.
06:25We know it as Quetzalcoatlus.
06:27And it soared above famous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops,
06:32showing them who the ultimate ruler of the skies was.
06:36Quetzalcoatlus belonged to a group of flying reptiles called pterosaurs.
06:41They were some of the biggest flying animals ever known to exist.
06:46When you think of Quetzalcoatlus, imagine an animal as tall as a giraffe.
06:51These incredible creatures had long necks, small bodies, long legs, and wings that were relatively short compared to their size.
07:00The biggest of its kind was really massive and held the title of being the largest flying creature of all
07:06time.
07:07They had long, pointed skulls, while some also had short crests at the back of their heads.
07:13And for a long time, researchers were confused about how these giant pterosaurs hunted for food.
07:20At first, some even believed that Quetzalcoatlus and its relatives were like giant vultures
07:26that scavenged the remains they would find around.
07:30They drew such a conclusion because Quetzalcoatlus fossils were found inland,
07:34away from the coast where other big pterosaurs were found, such as the crested Pteranodon.
07:40Plus, many thought these fellas were skilled at skimming,
07:43which means lurking over freshwater systems and catching fish.
07:48But it appears these massive animals were actually predators with excellent hunting skills.
07:53The exact technique they used to catch their prey remains a mystery, though.
07:57Now, here's another cool discovery.
08:00A specific fossil has the oldest evidence of muscle tissue ever found.
08:05This fossil belongs to a group of animals that includes modern creatures such as jellyfish,
08:11corals, and sea anemones.
08:12And it looks so cool and unique, right?
08:14It has bundles of fibers arranged in a four-fold symmetrical pattern,
08:19similar to what we see in Nidardians today.
08:23This arrangement is different from any other fossil from that period.
08:27Now, this fossil may look weird, but it helps us understand the evolution of muscle tissue in animals.
08:33They, well, all of us actually, got new options for discovering different feeding strategies
08:38and generally new things to do thanks to muscles.
08:41And it's not like scientists usually get to study fossilized muscles.
08:46It's more that they learn about that based on how animals feed, reproduce, move, and do other things.
08:52So this cool fossil suggests animals may have had an earlier origin than we used to believe.
08:58So imagine stumbling upon a creature so huge it could dwarf even the largest known marine animals today.
09:06Scientists discovered the fossils of this beast on England's coast and believe it once ruled the waves.
09:13The new species was named Ichthyotitan severinensis.
09:17But thankfully for me, scientists nicknamed it the Lillstock monster.
09:22Its estimated lengths ranged from 72 to 85 feet long, almost as big as a blue whale.
09:28Megalodon can't even compare to this.
09:30It was only about 60 feet long.
09:32And what's crazy is that this fossil we found wasn't even an adult.
09:37So who knows what their actual size was?
09:40The first piece of the Lillstock monster was discovered in 2016 in the Westbury Formation.
09:46Researchers found a 3-foot-long jaw part that belonged to an unknown species.
09:51For years, this single fragment had been driving them crazy because they had no idea what that animal was.
09:58Then, in 2020, a miracle happened, of sorts.
10:02A father with his 11-year-old daughter found the second piece of fossil on a beach.
10:07This discovery led to more findings.
10:10Finally, in 2022, the last piece of the literal jaw puzzle was found, buried along the Somerset coast.
10:18This leviathan belonged to the Shastasaurid family.
10:21Both the Lillstock monster and other Shastasaurids had one ancestor.
10:26So all the species in this family are super similar to each other.
10:30For example, all of them were the largest marine reptiles ever to exist.
10:34Although our Lillstock monster is much larger, most Shastasaurids could grow up to only 69 feet long.
10:41And it's possible that the Lillstock monster, when fully grown, would reach up to 100 feet or even more.
10:48Both of their bodies were just perfect for cruising the ancient seas.
10:52These marine titans were elegant and slender, with an elongated snout.
10:57Other marine animals at the time were smaller and looked more like dolphins.
11:02Shastasaurids had long, paddle-like limbs adapted for efficient swimming.
11:06Their skulls show large eye sockets, which means they had excellent vision.
11:11If you were in the ocean, no matter what time it was or where you were hiding, they could spot
11:17you.
11:17They were also incredibly fast and could dive to great depths.
11:21Of course, all these things made them the most terrifying predators.
11:25They ate pretty much everything, including fish and squid, and you if you were there.
11:30They probably captured their prey like whales, opened their huge mouths, and literally sucked the fish in.
11:37What made the Lillstock monster especially scary is that it wins in the jaw competition.
11:42For other Shastasaurids, their jaws were a bit weaker.
11:45So they hunted smaller fish, kind of like today's orchids.
11:49They required vast amounts of food.
11:51This shows us that the Earth's Triassic oceans had rich, productive food webs.
11:56But the Lillstock monster has this unique feature.
11:59It could open its jaw almost 90 degrees upwards.
12:02It also had tons of powerful muscles around.
12:05His jaws were horrifyingly strong.
12:08So while others were hunting some squids, the Lillstock monster probably hunted large fish and even other marine reptiles.
12:16Fossils of Shastasaurus had been found everywhere in the world, from North America to Asia.
12:21This means that these creatures dominated and terrorized the oceans for millions of years.
12:26Although even they weren't completely safe from scavengers.
12:30And that's exactly why we struggle to find these fossils now.
12:33Scavengers didn't leave any remnants of them.
12:36So while we have some fossils of this marine family, they mostly remain a mystery for us.
12:42They lived in the oceans about 200 million years ago, in the late Triassic period.
12:47The Earth looked completely different back then.
12:50All continents were united in one Pangaea, a huge landmass.
12:55Some parts of this supercontinent were covered with lush conifer forests,
12:59while others were dry deserts and open prairies.
13:01It was before the famous Jurassic period, but there were already first pterosaurs and amphibians.
13:08It seems like those monsters were crazy resilient.
13:11The Triassic period was super unstable, but they survived through many changes in the environment.
13:17Well, until the last one.
13:19The Triassic extinction came out of nowhere.
13:22It was one of the Earth's Big Five extinction events.
13:25It wiped out almost all species on the planet, including these leviathans.
13:29It's still not clear what happened exactly, but it looks like there was a huge tectonic activity.
13:36Volcanoes in the oceans were going crazy back then.
13:39These massive volcanic eruptions have probably altered the climate and ocean chemistry,
13:44leading to the extinction of many species.
13:47Scientists have a theory that it might have happened because there was a rain of comets
13:51flying to our planet from the Oort cloud.
13:54This likely happens about every 200 million years or so.
13:57Well, I wasn't around then, so I'm just guessing here.
14:01In any case, after the extinction, the Earth took some time to recover.
14:05Then it entered the famous Jurassic period.
14:08More terrifying sea monsters were on the way.
14:12One of them left us a colossal skull.
14:14This fossil is 150 million years old, and it also belonged to a sea beast from Jurassic times.
14:20They called it the Sea Rex.
14:23The name is very fitting.
14:24This monster could have broken a car in half with one bite.
14:28It was also discovered accidentally.
14:30A fossil enthusiast was walking along the Jurassic coast.
14:34This place is famous for having tons of ancient fossils, all because of the erosion and stormy weather.
14:40Typically, people find small spiral fossils here.
14:43However, this time, he discovered a giant sea monster fossil.
14:47Excited, he contacted scientists.
14:50They arrived at the spot right away, and then had to carefully climb down a cliff to search for the
14:55rest of the skull.
14:56This fragment alone is 6.5 feet long.
14:59Turns out, it's a newly discovered species of pliosaurs, giant predators of the ancient seas.
15:06Pliosaurs were among the largest marine predators ever.
15:09Some of them grew up to 40 feet long.
15:11They used their huge teeth to snatch and devour prey, including other reptiles.
15:16Well, at least those creatures are far gone.
15:18But what about the horrors that still live in our oceans?
15:23Recently, biologists discovered the world's longest animal, the one that's still alive to this day.
15:29They found it off Australia's coast, on the Gascoyne coast, a very mysterious and unexplored place.
15:35Their underwater vehicle stumbled upon a frightening, 150-foot-long siphonophore.
15:42It's twice as long as many blue whales, and three times as long as a humpback whale.
15:47Doesn't it kind of look like one of those toy string worms?
15:50But this creature isn't friendly at all.
15:53It's a string-like deep-sea predator.
15:55What's even more scary is that this isn't actually one creature.
15:59It's a colony of small clones working together as one.
16:03Basically, collective consciousness.
16:06Ooh, bored.
16:07Together, they stretch out like a single long string in the water.
16:11This creature might be the longest siphonophore ever found,
16:14and it was discovered at a depth of around 2,000 feet.
16:18Siphonophores, similar to jellyfish, capture their prey by dangling, stinging tentacles in the water.
16:25When their tentacles touch small crustaceans and fish,
16:27they get paralyzed, and then they're reeled up to the colony's body.
16:32Expeditions to Western Australia's underwater canyons were definitely worth it.
16:37Together with that siphonophore, scientists have discovered up to 30 potential new marine species.
16:43Among them were a new octopus or squid, a long-tailed sea cucumber, glass sponges,
16:49and giant hyroids, colonies of animals resembling upside-down jellyfish.
16:54None of them have been seen before in Australia.
16:57But most of them weren't as scary as the one that was recently discovered in the Gulf of Mexico.
17:03This creature is straight out of a sci-fi thriller.
17:06A 26-foot-long mangapenna squid, or a bigfin squid.
17:11It was discovered near an offshore oil rig at a depth of more than 7,800 feet.
17:16It has incredibly long elastic tentacles, which can be 15 to 20 times longer than its body.
17:22It holds them at right angles to its body, making it look even creepier, almost as if it has elbows.
17:29And yes, it's another deep-sea predator.
17:32These 10 tentacles probably help the squid trap their prey and drag it onto the seafloor.
17:38We barely know anything about this extraterrestrial-looking creature because they're very hard to find and study.
17:45And if you think their tentacles are awful, just check out these creatures with 20 arms.
17:50This thing looks like a facehugger.
17:51This new species is lurking in the frozen depths of Antarctica.
17:56Experts were searching for cryptic sea animals known as promachocrinus, or Antarctic feather stars.
18:02They're kind of similar to starfish and sea cucumbers, but have an otherworldly appearance and can live up to 6
18:09,500 feet below the surface.
18:11It's called the Antarctic strawberry feather star.
18:14Despite its pretty name, its appearance is anything but cute.
18:18It has a bizarre strawberry-like body from which 20 spindly arms branch off.
18:24Its coloring ranges from purple to dark reddish, and the arms all have different lengths and thickness.
18:30Who knows how many more of such scary creatures we'll discover in the future?
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