What Was Earth Like in the Age of Giant Insects?

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Over 300 million years ago, before the age of giant dinosaurs, Earth was covered with giant insects. Why were insects so enormous during this time? What did oxygen have to do with it? And why did these insects go extinct?

00:00 What Was Earth Like in the Age of Giant Insects?
01:35 Meganeura
02:32 Pulmonoscorpius
04:33 Oxygen Toxicity
05:35 Carboniferous Period

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[WhatIfScienceShow]

Make sure you check out the incredible work being shared on the @planet-wild YouTube channel:

[EdgarTheOgre]

"imagine a dragonfly the size of a crow"

***shows dragonfly the size of an helicopter***

[pabcu]

Could only imagine the other creatures we still haven’t discovered yet

[CptApplestrudl]

A thought that always tickles my brain is:
The image we have of the past is based on the fossils we've found, but of course MOSt animals didnt leave fossils. God knows what creatures lived back when.
Some may have just been huge versions of todays animals, while others might have been completely unknowable strings of evolution that went extinct and were unrelated to anything afterwards.

[xxsecondsxx]

It just hit me now, with how FREAKY Pangaea era had to be!
One big land mass... but the rest was a water world!🤯

[ghost]

What if this channel didnt exist? What would have happened to the owner of this channel, what would have happened to my this comment, what would have happened to the time i spent on his videos.

[CharlieFarrow]

Can you imagine if you saw one of these giant insects today? I would freak out and run in the other direction.

[rotkev]

I always wondered how long it would take me to die a horrific death if I time travelled to this time or Late Cretaceous.

“Wow, this is ama-“

Giant Insect: “Hi.”

[HeavyMetalBarpiano]

2:41 For those who are not used to the metric system: 70cm is quite much for a scorpion but not THAT enormous like it looks in this scene. 😉

[lrod]

I can imagine the stench during the dinosaur era. The sheer amount of dinosaur feces and rotting flesh of other dead dinosaurs mixed with the warm and often humid climate must’ve been unbearably disgusting 😣

[fatty]

It would be a nightmare in the summer months. 😂

[abhidsouza]

Just imagine giant cockroaches flying around you ☠️ damn it's nightmare ☠️

[KDSima]

This is one of my favorite era to learn about.
More, please!

[aldelaniz]

Thanks to the camera man for going back in time and getting us these shots

[leonthefreon]

"We are going in with the first wave, means more bugs for us to kill. You smash the entire area, you kill anything with more than two legs. You get me?"

"WE GET YOU SIR!"

[woodwwad]

Stop calling animals that aren't insects - insects.

[potatomatop]

You already know what happened in Island of Giant Insects. Imagine a World of Giant Insects.

[Arcencielcrypto]

Fascinating glimpse into Earth's prehistoric past! Nature's giants ruled the land in the era of giant insects.

[OOTurok]

Technically most if those insects didn't go extinct. Their offspring just didn't grow as big due to reduced O2 density.
Insects today, still have the capability to grow as big as their Carboniferous ancestors.
The Giant Petaltail & Giant Darner dragonflies, have the exact same morphology as 2 species of Meganeura from the Carboniferous Period.
Giant Petatails & Darners grew 15% larger when grown in hyperboxic habitats, & grew bigger still when adequate food supply was available.
Paleobiologists believe that successive generations of these dragonflies will eventually reach the size of their Meganeura ancestors, provided the difficulties of raising dragonflies in captivity can be remedied, & a large enough habitat could be maintained.

[CholeSkunk]

The Giant Monsters and Spiders From The MIST. I can’t deal with that 😂