Prehistoric Animals

[Algolei]

Really? What did they rename?

 

[Knight Otu]

The dinosaurs in the three monster manuals and the ECS itself. Such as Quetzalcoatlus to Soarwing, Leaellynasaura to Fastieth and Triceratops to Threehorn.

 

[DMH]

The dinosaurs in the three monster manuals and the ECS itself. Such as Quetzalcoatlus to Soarwing, Leaellynasaura to Fastieth and Triceratops to Threehorn.

Those aren't from the age of mammals (which is what Boz wants).

Another groups to look at are the horses down through the ages. And that reminds me, Mr Dyal (and others in the know) is there any listings of rodents, lagomorphs and other small mammals from that time period? What about birds?

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Speaking of horses, halflings in my campaign ride "hin ponies", which are in fact Mesohippuses (mesohippi???); dog sized 3 toed horses.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Wooly Mammomth and the Megalodon (I think that is what it is called), a prehistoric gargantuan shark.

 

[the Jester]

I always think of those weird sea creatures in the illustrated books I had as a kid- trilobites, weird armored fishes, those squid-like predators, etc.

 

[BOZ]

Which of these have been statted up and where?

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1902285&postcount=171

 

[Turjan]

Is it? I wasn't sure if that was the same creature, or simply two birds that were closely related. Dang it, that is disappointing. I mean, I understand the nomenclature rules, but crap -- once something's been out there for decades and decades, there really oughtta be some kind of consideration for that...

Sometimes, I have the feeling that there is no consideration at all. It's true for living species, too. The organism I'm working on has been renamed at least three times during the last two decades, which makes following the literature quite cumbersome. Even worse, the last name before the recent, for which most of the literature came out, has been reassigned to a different organism; a nightmare!

 

[WmRAllen67]

On a side note, it would be great if someone came up with non-scientific names for these critters ("Terror Bird" isn't bad). It never seemed right to me that adventurers ambushed in the middle of the night would leap from their bedrolls crying, "Look out! Gastornii Geiselensis!"

I'm using a "crypto-zoology/ mythology" route IMC planning (alternate history age of exploration/ pirate theme, if I ever get a chance to run it)

For instance, perhaps the Giganthropus in your campaign is the "Barmanu" ("Big Hairy One" reputedly living in the Pakistani wastelands) or the "Buata" (Polynesia), "Hibagon" (Japan), or "Trauko" (South America)...

There's tales of a giant (Dire?) bear from Kamchatka, named "Kainyn-Kutho" or "God Bear"...

Genyornis could be "Malakalata" (Central Africa), and the Senegalese "Kikiyaon" could be a gaint owl...

"M'Kolo-M'bembe" is a classic for your Apatosaurs, and I always figured the Archaeopteryx and Cockatrice were too much alike not to be the same...

A lot of names like this can be found on the Internet...

 

[Tonguez]

I'm using a "crypto-zoology/ mythology" route IMC planning (alternate history age of exploration/ pirate theme, if I ever get a chance to run it)

For instance, perhaps the Giganthropus in your campaign is the "Barmanu" ("Big Hairy One" reputedly living in the Pakistani wastelands) or the "Buata" (Polynesia), "Hibagon" (Japan), or "Trauko" (South America)...

I've followed this route often, even going so far as to say that the Tarrasque was a form of Ankylosaur, and that Ogres are direct descendents of Gigantipithecus and Bugbears a form of Austrolopithicus.

"M'Kolo-M'bembe" is the bronotsaurus (sorry I just can't get myself to call them Apatosaurs!).

I'd even go so far as to say that the Owlbear and Griffon are forms of 'raptor' (like the Velociraptor since I ascribe to the proto-avian feathered dinosaur theory)

The last of the mammoths (a dwarf species) was still living on small artic islands at the beginning of the Bronze age so the idea of these creatures being remembered in legend isn't o farfetched...

Personally my favourite prehistoric creature is the Sea Scorpian imc they are a major predator