5 creatures that mysteriously disappeared from Earth
As a child, you may have studied various aspects of nature, as well as the fact that several species of animals were extinct from planet Earth - one of the most famous examples being dinosaurs. However, the number of creatures that no longer exist is far greater than you can imagine.
Among the extinct animals, there are species that have disappeared from the planet without scientists being able to explain why - that is, they cannot say whether the elimination factor was human predatory hunting or a meteor that destroyed living conditions, for example. Are you curious? So keep reading and find out more about it.
A huge bird
One of the most famous extinct animals is the dodo, but it is not the only bird unable to fly on the list of dead species. Above you can see an image of the Elephant Bird, an animal that inhabited the island of Madagascar, was almost three meters high and weighed over four hundred pounds.
Because of its size, it is difficult to understand what led to its extinction. For now, the most widely accepted theory is that these giant birds lost their habitat to humans while their eggs were stolen, as they can be 150 times larger than chicken's, a situation that has killed all species. .
Ending the little ones
From 1873 until 1877, the United States faced a grasshopper infestation known as Rocky Mountain. The insects were found in such large quantities that the country had to pay millions of dollars in damage to farms and other places.
About thirty years later these locusts were extinct. Despite not knowing the real reason for this, the theories point to several factors, the main ones being climate change, the decrease of an ideal habitat for breeding insects due to soil irrigation and even genetic problems that have ended up. the species.
The king of the seas
Until 1.5 million years ago, the seas were dominated by a species of shark ancestor today, called Megalodon. This animal was up to 18 meters long, weighing over 100 tons and only its teeth could be eighteen centimeters - that is, it was able to hunt large whales easily.
If such a strong animal was at the top of the food chain, what could have happened to its species? One theory is that Megalodon could not resist the cooling that occurred in the seas thousands of years ago. Meanwhile, other scientists hypothesize that the emergence of giant whales may have eroded the supremacy of the species, causing it to disappear from the planet.
A strange frog
Ecuador was home to a very curious looking frog, as you can see from the image above, called Atelopus longirostriswas - but it has not been seen since 1989. The only theory scientists have to explain the disappearance is a disease. generated by a fungus, known to kill 100% of the amphibians that are infected, and this decrease has contributed to habitat reduction and climate change unfortunately eliminating the rest of the species.
Very famous people
If you have ever studied human evolution, you may have heard about the famous Neanderthals, who have come to be called the "cousins" of contemporary man. This species was smart enough to work with tools, live in society, and even hunt animals much larger than her.
However, scientists are still unsure how they disappeared. Some believe that a gigantic volcanic eruption combined with an extreme cold season has wiped out the Neanderthals, who were not very capable of adapting to sudden climatic differences quickly enough.
Meanwhile, other researchers claim that Homo erectus is actually responsible for the extinction of Neanderthals. There are several theories, such as genocide of an entire species, the spread of strange diseases and even mating between the two animals, making Neanderthals part of their DNA. Interesting, isn't it?
* Originally posted on 08/30/2013.
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