During prehistoric times, not all creatures were huge or even dinosaurs, as there were other animals that roamed the earth millions of years ago. Many of these non-dinosaurs would eventually evolve into the animals we see today. In this article, you will encounter an ancient elephant species and reptiles that flew in the air.
Nemicolopterus
Pterosaurs were the flying reptiles of the prehistoric world. In 2008, the fossil of the Nemicolopterus, which marked the smallest of the pterosaurs yet to be identified. The creature only possessed a wingspan of about 10 inches and weighed only a couple of ounces. The reptile was actually the same size as a pigeon.
Minmi
The ankylosaur was the type of prehistoric creature that lived during the early Cretaceous period. The smallest type of this dinosaur was the Minmi, which was about 10 feet long from its head to the tail. It could have weighed between 500 and 1,000 pounds, which paled in comparison to its cousins the Ankylosaurus and Euoplocephalus. When researchers took a look at the size of the brain cavity for the Minmi, they learned that the creature was not too bright.
The small armored dinosaur was first described in 1980 by Ralph E Molnar, who also named the type and only known species. The fossil was discovered close to the Minmi Crossing, which was in the Buggil Formation , close to Roma in Queensland, Australia.
Phosphatherium
Prehistoric elephants roamed the earth millions of years ago and not all of them were the kind of size you see today. About 5 million years after dinosaurs were no longer in existence, fossils of the Phosphatherium emerged, which is considered the smallest species of the prehistoric elephants. The creature only measure three feet long and weighed about 100 pounds. The elephant ate a diet of greens. The family tree of modern elephants includes this kind of creature, which is also related to Ice Age Mastodons and mammoths.
Pakicetus
In the waters, not all prehistoric creatures were related to the reptilian side of the dinosaurs. The ancient relative of the modern whale, the Pakicetus is known as the smallest prehistoric whale. The small animal was covered in fur and only weighed about 50 pounds, which is the equivalent of a young elementary school student. For a whale, the Pakicetus had the ability to live on land and walked with four feet much similar to the dogs of today. The only reason that the Pakicetus is classified in the group of prehistoric whales was because of the structure of the inner ears.
If you want to learn more about small dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago, check out the article titled, “A Collection of Really Small Dinosaurs” or to learn more about the different highs and low in the dinosaur world, read the article titled, “A Collection of Dinosaur Facts.”