Real Giant Monsters

The second picture here was supposedly taken from an archaeological dig in India. Look at the relationship in size between the fossil bones and the men working the site. If this is not a hoax I wouldn't have wanted to meet up with this fellow!

The world once teemed with monsters and some still share our world. Varanus priscus, an extinct monitor lizard once dined on the aboriginal people of Australia. This giant man eater averaged over 20 feet in length and was the apex predator in Australia for thousands of years.

This hub is about monsters. Real monsters not imaginary or mythical ones. First we'll see some modern day monsters and then see their prehistoric counterparts.

People have been fascinated by giant creatures for thousands of years. Our ancestors feared and hunted giants such as mastodons, sloths and cave bears. Scientist have pointed to the arrival of humans in North America as the leading cause of extinction of the megafauna living here at the end of the last glacial period about 13,000 years ago.

If you are interested in real and imaginary giant creatures you might enjoy Giant Monsters of the World. I share some interesting information about living giants and mythical monsters.

At this time the continent teemed with giant creatures from 12 foot tall ground sloths to the wooly mammoth. Giant bears that would dwarf the largest polar bear haunted the forests here in America while tortoises bigger than Volkswagen autos and 30 foot long goannas lumbered across ancient Australia.

Prehistoric Giant Monster Crocodile

Sarcosuchus was a true monster crocodile. Imagine a crocodile averaging 40 feet long and weighing in at 16,000 pounds. Imagine it if you will; a reptile predator large as a city bus living in the lakes and rivers of Cretaceous period Africa.

Sarcosuchus is thought to have been the largest crocodile species that ever lived. Paleontologists estimate the animals average weight and length by studying the size, shape and position of skeletal remains and fossil skulls.

Sarcosuchus, at 40 plus feet is only about twice as long as the largest living crocodiles. It was much more massive than modern crocodiles and averaged 8 to 10 tons in weight. Some scientists think the animal needed the extra mass because its prey included dinosaurs and turtles as well as the monstrous fish that lived during the Creataceous Period. Many of the giant lobe finned fish alive during the cretaceous were over 6 feet in length and weighed well over 200 pounds.

Gustav-Giant Monster Crocodile and Man-eater

In the African country of Burundi there lives a monster. Famous as a man eater, Gustav is a nile crocodile over 20 feet long and weighing in at nearly 3000 pounds. Gustav is a notorious predator with a taste for human meat as well as anything else too slow to get away. The exact measurements are uncertain because Gustav has not been captured. Expert eyewitness accounts verify that Gustav is indeed a giant sized Nile crocodile and may be the largest living member of the species. Because he is so massive, Gustav isn't fast enough to easily catch prey such as antelope or gazelles. Reptile experts studying the animal think that is why he hunts slower prey like humans and hippos. Juvenile crocodiles are also on Gustav's menu.

He lives in Burundi and hunts the waters of the Ruzizi River and the north shoreline of lake Tanganyika. Local villagers are frightened witless by this real life monster. They recount that giant Crocodile has eaten at least 300 people during his 60 plus year reign as king of the river.

THIS giant feral pig has been shot dead after it was spotted eating a dead cow on an Australian property. At first considered a hoax, the Sunday Times newspaper has since established the giant pig was established as being killed on the Pilbara cattle station near Perth, Australia. The stationer kept quiet for fear of having his station over run by hunters looking for more giant boars.
Another giant boar was killed by an 11 year old boy in Alabama. This one was 9 feet long and weighed over 1000 pounds.

The Entelodont

North America 25 million years ago was home to something truly dire.  Imagine a giant boar seven feet high at the shoulder and weighing over a ton with truly nasty eating habits.  That's entelodont.  While a scavenger this monster would eat anything smaller than itself and would defecate on it's prey to keep scavengers away while it ate.