The prehistoric beasts that roamed ancient Britain – including giant ‘Irish Elk’ with 12ft antlers and 13-ton elephants

IN the icy and swampy pasts of the past British Isles, colossal creatures were escaped to roam.

Much has changed successful the millenniums since - with the largest chaotic mammal successful the UK contiguous being the 4ft gangly reddish deer.

Woolly Rhino

A possibly lesser known companion that lived alongside the Woolly Mammoth, and different crystal animals successful an past British Isles, was the Woolly Rhino.

It was during a clip erstwhile the UK looked much similar an Arctic tundra, than it does contiguous - wherever temperatures often dropped arsenic debased arsenic -22^oC successful winter, and summers topped 10^oC connected average.

Woolly rhinos utilized to roam the glaciers of Scotland and different parts of bluish Europe, Africa and Asia..

These beasts were much than 11ft long, implicit 5ft tall, and weighed much than 2 tons.

They are believed to person been covered successful agelong reddish-brown fur, and were hunted by aboriginal humans.

Scientists lone cognize what woolly rhinos look similar due to the fact that of cave paintings; otherwise, determination are lone bones to spell on.

Irish Elk

While today's elk basal astir 1.2m tall, their Pleistocene ancestor stood astir treble that.

The Megaloceros—an elk-like creature—towered implicit the past humans it lived alongside.

The long-extinct carnal was astir 6.5ft gangly and adorned with 12ft antlers.

They would person thrived successful the dense forests that blanketed the UK thousands of years ago.

The Irish Elk, oregon Megaloceros giganteus arsenic it is formally known, apt incited some fearfulness and intrigue successful the aboriginal humans it shared the onshore with.

Giant cervid drawings person been recovered connected the walls of caves successful what is present known arsenic Southern France.

They roamed the past British Isles, and mainland Europe, for centuries.

The earliest fossil grounds of the elephantine cervid is from 400,000 years ago, portion the past fossil grounds is from 8,000 years ago.

Straight-tusked elephant

A lukewarm 'interglacial' play astir 700,000 years agone saw straight-tusked elephants inhabit mild-tempered forests successful the UK.

Adult males could scope 13 feet astatine the enarthrosis and weighed astir 13 tonnes.

They were 1 of the largest onshore mammals to person ever existed - and they were wide during the Pleistocene era.

Four straight-tusked elephant remains person been recovered successful Oxfordshire alone, dating backmost to betwixt 500,000 and 125,000 years ago.

Polar bears

Polar bears whitethorn person besides been connected the prowl immoderate 50,000 years ago, successful an past Scotland - good earlier humans occupied the land.

Researchers, successful 2023, recovered imaginable grounds that polar bears thrived successful the portion during the past Ice Age.

Remains recovered heavy wrong Inchnadamph's past Bone Caves, successful the limestone cliffs of Assynt, were antecedently thought to person belonged to these creatures.

But a reevaluation of the fossils by experts astatine the National Museums Scotland and universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh successful 2023 noted they could beryllium to polar bears, oregon a sub-species of brownish bear.

The animals' diets were made up astir wholly of seafood - conscionable similar today's polar bears.

"We person identified respective samples which instrumentality retired similar a sore thumb, some from the diets of different bears surviving successful Scotland thousands of years agone and from what we'd expect of today's brownish bears," Professor Kate Britton, from the University of Aberdeen, said astatine the time.

"Instead of consuming the nutrient of land-based animals, plants, oregon adjacent a small salmon, similar modern brownish bears, these bears look to person lived astir exclusively connected seafood."

Sea Crocodile

The oversea crocodile was a salient subordinate of marine ecosystems from the Early Jurassic done the Early Cretaceous period.

A caller genus and taxon of the Sea Crocodile that utilized to unrecorded successful what is present the UK was discovered successful 2023.

The newly-identified species, the 2metre-long Turnersuchus hingleyae, roamed UK waters immoderate 185million years ago.

Less than 10 taxon of Sea Crocodile are presently known from this clip period.

While astir specimens are recovered successful Europe, specimens person besides been recovered successful China, Argentina, and Madagascar.

Thalattosuchians, and different crocodyliforms, look abruptly successful fossil records, suggesting accelerated diversification during the Toarcian age, betwixt 183 and 174 cardinal years ago.