Introduction to extinct animals in Cage of Eden manga
Gigantopithecus
Debut: Chapter 74
Gigantopithecus (“giant ape”) is the largest of all the primates in history. Only fossils of its jaws and teeth have been discovered, but judging from the size of its teeth, it’s about twice the size of modern gorillas. It’s an omnivore that lived on the ground in caves. They’re not ancestors of modern homo sapiens, but come from a different line of anthropoid fossils. There are also theories that these still exist today, and are living in the Himalayas and the area surrounding it.
Gigantopithecus is an extinct genus of ape that existed from roughly one million years to as recently as three hundred thousand years ago, in what is now China, India, and Vietnam, placing Gigantopithecus in the same time frame and geographical location as several hominin species. The fossil record suggests that the Gigantopithecus blacki species were the largest apes that ever lived, standing up to 3 metres, and weighing up to 540 kilograms.
The genus has entered the popular culture lexicon as a result of cryptozoologic claims that Gigantopithecus survives in remote parts of Asia and the Americas even today and is known variously as the yeti, the yeren, the mande-barung, the sasquatch, and the skunk ape.
Cage of Eden
Introduction to extinct animals in Cage of Eden manga
Eusmilus
Debut: Chapter 75
Eusmilus were sometimes called the “false sabre-tooth”. Some were as small as lynxes while others were over 2m in length. They differ from the Smilodon, who are in the Felidae family, as they belong to the Nimravidae family. Large sized ones had fangs of up to 18cm and there is a protuberance in the bony tissue in the lower jaw for the fangs. Its relatively large body is long, while its four limbs are short. Its jaw can open 90 degrees and like Smilodons, it uses its long fangs to pierce and kill its prey. It was one of the most powerful hunters back in its time.
Eusmilus (‘true sabre’) is a prehistoric genus of the family Nimravidae, subfamily Nimravinae endemic to North America, Europe,and Asia during the Late Eocene-Early Oligocene epochs (37.2-28.4 mya), existing for approximately 8.8 million years.
Eusmilus had a long body and was about as tall as a leopard. It had developed long saber teeth and looked like a saber-toothed cat, but was actually a so-called ‘false saber-tooth’. Most were leopard-sized and rather long-bodied and short-legged compared to modern leopards. Some reached 2.5 metres long. Eusmilus had lost many other teeth, possessing only 26 instead of the 44 usually seen in carnivore mammals. Its mouth could open to an angle of 90 degrees, allowing the creature to properly use its saber teeth. Bony flanges projected from Eusmilus ‘ lower jaw to protect the sabers. There is fossil evidence of conflict between Eusmilus and Nimravus, another genus of nimravid.
Cage of Eden
Introduction to the extinct animals in Cage of Eden manga
Meganeura Monyi
Debut: Chapter 74
Meganeura monyi was the largest insect in history, and a relative of the dragonfly that lived in the swampy land of the Carboniferous Period. It hunted other flying insects and small animals on the ground by flying and gliding down on them from above. Its larvae, which could be up to 30cm in length, were similar to its adult form in that they were also fierce predators. They ambushed prey from holes that they dug in the swamp floor. They hunted not only other insects, but also small amphibians and reptiles.
Meganeura monyi was a species of flying insect that lived during the Carboniferous period, about 300 million years ago. It is believed to be related to modern dragonflies, and is the largest known flying insect species – it had a wingspan of about 75 cm.
Meganeura was a carnivore and is believed to have fed on other insects as well as small amphibians. There has been a lot of debate about why it was able to grew so large – one possibility is that a higher partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere made conditions more suitable to the evolution of large insects.
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Introduction of extinct animals in Cage of Eden manga
Pristichampus
Debut: Chapter 65
Pristichampus was an ancient crocodile that adapted to hunting on land. Its long legs made it agile on the ground, making it a ferocious predator that would chase down land mammals who would then become its prey. They can grew to approximately three metres in length.
Pristichampsus had heavily armoured skin, and long limbs suggesting a cursorial habitus. It also had hoof-like toes, suggesting that it lived more on land than in the water, and that it therefore probably hunted terrestrial mammals. Pristichampsus's teeth were ziphodont - laterally compressed, sharp, and with serrated edges. Due to their similarity to those of certain theropod dinosaurs they were initially mistaken for theropod teeth, leading paleontologists to believe that some non-avian dinosaurs survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event.
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<Extinct Animals in Cage of Eden>
Bos Primigenius
Debut: Chapter 47
Bos Primigenius was an ancestor of the present day cows or cattle. It lived in small herds on grassy plains or in the forests. It had a deep connection to humans, and you can also see them drawn on the walls of the lascaux caves in France.
Bos primigenius was a type of large wild cattle which inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa, but is now extinct; it survived in Europe until 1627. Aurochs bulls are believed to have reached a height of 1.8 meters at the withers, and the cows to have been about 1.5 meters, displaying considerable sexual dimorphism.
The aurochs was regarded as a challenging hunting quarry animal, contributing to its extinction. The last recorded aurochs, a female, died in 1627 in the Jaktorów Forest, Poland, and her skull is now the property of the Livrustkammaren museum in Stockholm, Sweden.
Domestication of bovines occurred in several parts of the world but at roughly the same time, about 8,000 years ago, possibly all derived from the aurochs. In 1920, the Heck brothers, who were German biologists, attempted to recreate aurochs. The resulting cattle are known as Heck cattle or Reconstructed Aurochs, and number in the thousands in Europe today. However, they are genetically and physiologically distinct from aurochs. The Heck brothers' aurochs also have a pale yellow dorsal stripe, instead of white.
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<Extinct Animals in Cage of Eden>
Glyptodon
Debut: Chapter 27
Glyptodon ("grooved or carved tooth") was a giant armadillo that lived on grassy plains. It was a slow moving omnivore, but it had the ability to protect itself by hiding its head and tail inside its 2 cm thick shell.
Glyptodon belong to the family Glyptodontidae, lived during the Pleistocene Epoch. It was roughly the same size and weight as a Volkswagen Beetle, though flatter in shape. With its rounded, bony shell and squat limbs, it superficially resembled turtles, and the much earlier dinosaurian ankylosaur, as an example of the convergent evolution of unrelated lineages into similar forms. Glyptodon is believed to have been an herbivore, grazing on grasses and other plants found near rivers and small bodies of water.
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