Megistotherium
Megistotherium. Roman Yevseev
Name: Megistotherium (Greek for "largest beast"); pronounced meh-JISS-toe-THEE-ree-um
Habitat: Plains of North Africa
Historical Epoch: Early Miocene (20 million years ago)
Size and Weight: About 12 feet long and 1,000-2,000 pounds
Diet: Meat
Distinguishing Characteristics: Large size; elongated skull with powerful jaws
You can get the true measure of Megistotherium by learning its last, i.e., species name: "osteophlastes," Greek for "bone-crushing." This was the biggest of all the creodonts, the carnivorous mammals that preceded modern wolves, cats and hyenas, weighing close to a ton and with a long, massive, powerfully jawed head. As big as it was, though, it's possible that Megistotherium was unusually slow and clumsy, a hint that it may have scavenged already-dead carcasses (like a hyena) rather than actively hunting down prey (like a wolf). The only
megafauna carnivore to rival it in size was
Andrewsarchus, which may or may not have been substantially bigger, depending on whose reconstruction you believe.
The Giant Mammals of the Cenozoic Era