There are theoretical works and some practices (like holotropic breathing), from which it can be concluded that with an increase in the concentration of CO2 in the blood, the absorption of oxygen also increases. Metabolism increases. And from here, the processes responsible for the growth of organisms can be enhanced.
Many experts associate the gigantic size of prehistoric animals, in particular dinosaurs, with a different force of gravity, a different content (or distribution in fractions) of atmospheric gases. What if these are all part of the factors? The main factor is pressure !?
I'll start with a comment from one of the readers:
Bonsai. Now, to reduce the time to create a mini-tree, the branches of the seedling are pruned, the trunk is wrapped with wire to give the effect of a wriggling old tree. In general, pure bonsai camouflage. There is some mention of growing under a glass flask, but there is no detailed information. No one will now wait for many years …
An example of the opposite effect (improving oxygen assimilation): an extract from medical information about treatment in a pressure chamber with high pressure.
Let's return to the topic of the giant fauna of the past. Were only dinosaurs gigantic in size? It turns out that among mammals there were also giants. There were a lot of these species representatives. Below are some of the remains found and classified by biologists. Let's take a look and make sure that their modern descendants cannot be the successors of the evolutionary processes, but, on the contrary, due to a decrease in size - involution! And involution (or rather, degradation) is associated with a catastrophe and a decrease in pressure.
Nuralagus. Giant menorca hare
Nuralagus is an extinct mammal of the hare family that lived on the island of Menorcanachinaya from the Messinian stage (end of the Miocene - beginning of the Pliocene, about 7-5 million years ago).
Based on the bone remains found, some individuals could weigh up to 23 kg, although the estimated average body weight was about 12 kg
I will give official scientific information with their geochronology. Let it be as it is. But even from it it can be concluded that giant mammals lived much later than dinosaurs. This means that the increased pressure after the death of the dinosaurs was preserved. Although, perhaps, not so …
Giant short-faced bear
An extinct bear species that lived in North America in the late Pleistocene between 44,000 and 12,500 years ago. The giant short-faced bear was one of the largest carnivorous mammals that lived on Earth during the glacial era. Based on the finds of skeletons, the height at the withers ranged from 1.5 to 2 m, but sometimes it could reach 3 meters, and when erect, the short-faced bear reached 3.5-4.5 m. According to scientists, males weighed an average of 600 kg, and the largest of them could weigh over 1400 kg, which is much more than the heaviest Kodiaks or polar bears.
In South America lived Arctotheria - an extinct genus of South American short-faced bears that lived in the Pleistocene, about 2 million - 10 thousand years ago.
Giant Sloths (Megatheria)
A group of several different extinct species of sloths, distinguished by their especially large size. They arose in the Oligocene about 35 million years ago (some species of giant sloths became extinct only at the end of the Pleistocene - 11.7 thousand years ago) and lived in the New World, reaching a mass of several tons and a height of 6 m.
Sarcosuchus. Giant crocodile
Inhabited the territory of modern Africa in the early Cretaceous periods, it is one of the largest giant crocodile-like reptiles that have ever lived on our planet.
Sarcosuchus was approximately 1.5-2 times longer than the largest modern crocodiles (9-12 m in length), and its weight reached 8 tons. It had a giant skull over 1.6 meters in length and a sturdy shell of closely spaced osteoderms, possibly protecting it from predatory dinosaur attacks.
The species Sarcosuchus imperator, which lived about 110 million years ago in Africa, was described in 1966. The same age as the dinosaurs, but it was in that era that scientists wanted to attribute it …
Megistoterium
Giant mammal (hyenodontid). It existed in the early and middle Miocene. It is considered to be one of the largest land predator mammals ever. There are assumptions (based on a fragment of the lower jaw of DPC 6611 - a huge specimen from Egypt) that the length of the body with the head was about 4 m, the length of the tail was supposedly 1.6 m, the height at the withers was up to 1.8 m. The weight of megystotherium is estimated at 880- 1400 kg.
Indricotherium
A genus of extinct mammals of the Girakodont family that lived 30-20 million years ago, in the Middle Oligocene - Lower Miocene. Remains of Indricotherium have been found in many regions of Asia.
The gigantism of living organisms of the past sibved
Indricotherium and Baluchiterium are the tallest (up to 4.8 meters at the withers) and the heaviest (up to 20 tons) land mammals that have ever existed.
Other giant mammals without a detailed description:
Perunium - giant marten
Giant hippopotamus
Let's move on from ancient mammals to other examples of giant fauna:
Giant ants
Fossil subfamily of giant ants (Formicidae), whose wingspan reached 15 cm. Extinct 22 million years ago. The total body size is about 4-7 cm. The body length of the female of Formicium giganteum reached 7 cm. Of modern species, the size is up to 3 cm.
Titanoboa. Giant snake
Judging by the structure of the skeleton, it was a close relative of the boa constrictor. Lived on the territory of modern Colombia 61.7-58.7 million years ago. Fossil remains of a snake were found in a coal mine near the town of Serrejon. Canadian and American zoologists, having made a comparative analysis of the skeleton, came to the conclusion that the snake could reach 13 meters in length and weigh more than a ton. The largest snake that has survived to this day, the reticulated python, reliably reaches 7.5 meters in length.
Argentavis
Argentavis was considered the largest flying bird known to science in the entire history of the Earth. Argentavis lived 5-8 million years ago on the territory of modern Argentina. It weighed about 70 kg, had a height of 1.26 m, and its wingspan reached 6.9 m (which is twice the wingspan of the largest modern birds - albatrosses). The Argentavis skull was 45 cm long
These are not all giant representatives of the ancient fauna. I did not give examples with an official date older than 65 million years. If we assume the objectivity of the dating of scientists, then it is clear that even after the catastrophic extinction of the dinosaurs - the gigantism of the fauna was present. But it is possible that many giant mammals lived with them in the same era, but in different places and climates.
The extinction of many surviving representatives after the cataclysm and a drop in pressure may be due to the fact that their respiratory and circulatory systems could not quickly adapt to new conditions (there were no reserves). Only a few species have adapted (and decreased in size), like the bears from the examples above.
The fact that Archeopteryx and Argentavis could not fly at the density of the atmosphere with its present parameters also speaks for the high pressure. a high density is needed to keep such giants in the air layers.
Brontosaurs would also find it easier to move. The circulatory systems of giants also cannot survive in our atmosphere. The vessels will not stand.
There is another opinion that gigantism could be associated with an increased level of oxygen in the atmosphere, it was more. But we must not forget that any organic matter could burn in the rain. From any lightning, huge forests could burn out completely. However, some do not hesitate to attribute these fires to the formation of coal. My opinion is not so. In coal, the sulfur content does not correspond to the content in wood. There is too much of it in the coals.
This topic is still controversial, but thought-provoking information about giant people in our recent history - as intelligent representatives of that ancient fauna (the clan of Gods). There are allegedly their surviving objects and traces: giant swords, swords, axes, even there are giant medieval guns. Huge old books. Enormous footprints in the then not yet hardened rock. The images in the medieval paintings of the people themselves are giants.
Read the continuation here.
Author: sibved