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| Megistotherium v Andrewsarchus | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 9 2013, 04:36 PM (16,691 Views) | |
| Taipan | Mar 9 2013, 04:36 PM Post #1 |
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Megistotherium osteothlastes Megistotherium is an extinct genus of creodonts, the only known species of which is Megistotherium osteothlastes. It is most likely a junior synonym of Hyainailouros sulzeri. Megistotherium osteothlastes was an enormous hyaenodontid creodont that lived during the early Miocene Epoch some 23 million years ago. It has been found in the Ngorora Formation and Muruyur Formation Kenya, Egypt, Namibia, Uganda and Libya. Named by Robert Savage in 1973, it is one of the largest terrestrial carnivorous mammals known to have existed. It was about 1.5 meters high at the shoulders and 3.5 meters in head and body length, with a 1 meter long tail and a 65 cm long skull. Its body mass has been estimated at 500 kg or 880 kg. This can be compared to the other large carnivorous mammals such as: Arctodus, modern polar bears, and Amphicyon ingens. The skull was twice as long as that of a Bengal tiger. The carnassial teeth of Megistotherium (like those of other creodonts) were the upper first molars, and overlapped with their lower molar counterparts like scissors to form a formidable and powerful shearing action. The land that is now the Sahara desert was much more fertile in the Miocene. A considerable amount of it was grassland and rainfall was plentiful. Lakes and ponds provided water for large fauna, which provided Megistotherium and other predators with an ample supply of prey. Large hyaenodontids like this one could have originally evolved as specialized predators or scavengers of large African herbivores. Mastodon bones have been found with its fossils, indicating that Megistotherium may have hunted them for food. ![]() Andrewsarchus mongoliensis Andrewsarchus mongoliensis was a giant mammalian predator of Central Asia and the largest, and most famous member of the mesonychids, a wholly extinct group of prehistoric mammals. The mesonychids were the only known group of ungulates to become carnivorous, and looked vaguely like wolves, with blunt, hoof-like nails instead of claws. Andrewsarchus (Andrews + Greek ἀñ÷üò, "ruler") was named for the famous explorer and fossil hunter Roy Chapman Andrews, who led the expedition on which it was discovered in 1923. Andrewsarchus is known only from an enormous skull (83 cm long and 56 cm wide) and pieces of bone, but the skull's similarity to that of smaller mesonychids suggests that Andrewsarchus had the same wolf-like body on a larger scale. Extrapolating from the body proportions of similar mesonychids, as well as large land mammals in general, Andrewsarchus was most likely about 4–6 metres (13–18 feet) long, standing nearly 2 metres (6 feet) at the shoulder, and weighing well over 1,500 pounds, making it the largest terrestrial carnivorous mammal known to have ever existed. Based on the proportion comparisons to mesonychids and modern day ursids, it is believed that the largest of the Andrewsarchus may have weighed nearly a ton (close to 2,000 pounds, or 907 kg). It is open to debate whether the animal was gracile or robust in build. It should be noted that modern white rhinoceros specimens are much heavier than these figures, though rhino bodies are about as long. ![]() ______________________________________________________________________
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| Sheroo | Mar 9 2013, 04:40 PM Post #2 |
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Herbivore
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The Andrewsarchus should win this by its only two advantages I can think of. Its size/weight and longer reach of jaws.
Edited by Sheroo, Mar 9 2013, 04:40 PM.
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| yigit05 | Mar 9 2013, 10:08 PM Post #3 |
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Kleptoparasite
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mismatch andrewsarchus win |
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| Sheroo | Mar 9 2013, 10:50 PM Post #4 |
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Herbivore
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How? They were roughly the same size with Andrewsarchus being a tad larger. |
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| yigit05 | Mar 9 2013, 11:00 PM Post #5 |
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Kleptoparasite
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Where did you hear that you? |
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| Spinodontosaurus | Mar 10 2013, 02:55 AM Post #6 |
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Herbivore
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How can you call it a miss-match in favour of Andrewsarchus when nobody has a damn clue what it actually looked like, never mind how big it was? |
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| Vivec | Mar 10 2013, 02:56 AM Post #7 |
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Canid and snake enthusiast.
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Yeah, except we have a skeleton and scientific research into its size. Pointless post. |
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| Jinfengopteryx | Mar 10 2013, 02:58 AM Post #8 |
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Aspiring paleontologist, science enthusiast and armchair speculative fiction/evolution writer
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IMO, Megistotherium should win this, LionClaws has shown evidence that Andrewsarchus was likely very slender in the Amphicyon vs Andrewsarchus therad, so it may have had a noticable siz disadvantage. |
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| Vivyx | Mar 10 2013, 03:08 AM Post #9 |
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Felines, sharks, birds, arthropods
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I'm not sure, Andrew is only known from a skull, but I think it wins due to possible size advantage and bigger skull. |
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| Sheroo | Mar 10 2013, 04:12 AM Post #10 |
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Herbivore
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Not sure about this but in most of the pictures I see Megistotherium has a smaller skull and more robustly built skull than Andrewsarchus. Would that give it a bite advantage thus giving it the upper hand? What about the dentition of the two? Andrewsarchus wasn't a very agile creature but I heard Megistotherium was so I think it would have the edge. But I'm not sure. I think Sarkastodon vs Megistotherium would have been a better match-up.
Edited by Sheroo, Mar 10 2013, 04:15 AM.
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| yigit05 | Mar 10 2013, 06:46 AM Post #11 |
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Kleptoparasite
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Edited by yigit05, Mar 10 2013, 06:47 AM.
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| yigit05 | Mar 10 2013, 06:48 AM Post #12 |
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Kleptoparasite
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Edited by yigit05, Mar 10 2013, 06:49 AM.
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| yigit05 | Mar 10 2013, 06:49 AM Post #13 |
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Kleptoparasite
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andrewsarchus |
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| yigit05 | Mar 10 2013, 06:52 AM Post #14 |
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Kleptoparasite
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Edited by yigit05, Mar 10 2013, 06:53 AM.
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| NeoNotoungulata | Mar 10 2013, 10:43 AM Post #15 |
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Heterotrophic Organism
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I know that neither of these two can really grapple due to thier evolutionary backgrounds, and Andrewsarchus may have been a generalist but due to its bigger skull I guess im picking it. But I think this is a very close match. |
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