Not too many kids would be interested in sharing the backyard with insects a metre long! Over time, many really scary-looking creatures and insects have died off, just like the dinosaurs, because of climate issues, changes in the food supply, ice ages and even because of humans.

Check out some of these hideous beasts!

Chalicotherium – lived up to 7 million years ago. Had a horse-like head, huge clawed limbs and ate leaves! It weighed around 1,500 kg and was 2.6 m high at the shoulder!  A huge animal.

Brontotherium – another massive horse-like creature, but this one had a horn on its snout resembling a rhinoceros.  2.5 m tall at the shoulders, herbivore. Called “thunder beast” not because it was so big, but because it is believed volcanoes erupting may have killed it off.

Prehistoric Dragon – 200 million years ago, there was a winged dinosaur/creature that may have given us our dragon legend today. It is thought that the bacteria in their stomachs produced hydrogen gas, which they used to help give them flight. This hydrogen also would have mixed with some of the minerals they ate, such as platinum, to produce fire. 

Gastornis – a huge bird that didn’t fly and could grow up to 2.2 m tall. It had a remarkably massive beak with a hooked front and huge talons on its feet, so it is a good guess that it was carnivorous – it ate meat. 

Josephoartigasia monesi – a giant rat-like rodent, but with a twist – it was the size of a bull.  Two to four million years ago, it used its massive teeth to fend off sabre-toothed cats. 

Jaekelopterus rhenaniae – giant scorpion the size of a crocodile!  It was a top predator 390 million years ago and is related to insects and spiders today.

Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) – this animal lived in Australia up to less than 200 years ago! It was hunted a lot and couldn’t survive humans taking its territory. It was declared extinct in the wild, but there were some animals left in zoos up until the early 1900s. It looked like a cat with a dog’s face almost and actually had a pouch like a kangaroo!