Earth's Scariest Flying Predators From Each Period

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When we think of the domains that life rules, there are really only a few major ones, and by far the most talked about ones are water and land. I mean, think about it. Whenever we talk about the deadliest animal in a region, or which animal would win, it's typically centered around terrestrial or aquatic creatures. And while these two areas have no doubt been the front lines when it comes to the battle of life, we can sometimes forget that there's a whole other massive area that animals have been vying for control over for hundreds of millions of years.

And that would be, of course, the skies.

Now, looking above today, you might find yourself underwhelmed by the avian animals available, at least when compared to the kind of stuff walking around or swimming in the water. And while I do think it's fair to say that the skies aren't as dangerous as the land or water, it wasn't necessarily always like this. As over the course of natural history, avian animals have cooked up some pretty horrifying animals themselves, and not to mention a lot of them. And as such, the competition between avian animals was far more brutal than one might think. But this then does beg the question, of which animals exactly were the deadliest to fly, and to fly from every period?

Well, for a good chunk of time, we know the answer here is, actually nothing. As of all the ways to get around, aviation was the last to evolve. And from the Cambrian, which began about half a billion years ago, through the end of the Salarian, which wrapped up about 419 million years ago, we have absolutely no evidence of any animal being capable of flight. It really wasn't until the Devonian that we got the first whiff, or should I say, breeze, of what was to come. But honestly, as I say this, this whiff is really just a whiff. Kind of like when you smell something, but you're not really sure if that smell is there or not, as the only flying animal from this time might have been a hoax. And this was the Rhino Natha.

Now, let me clarify though. This was a very real animal, which hailed from Devonian Scotland, and so was essentially the OG Braveheart, if you will. It was a very small arthropod, being tinier than most ants, and although it did look a lot like a bug, we actually aren't even sure if it was truly an insect, which just goes to show how little we know about this guy.

And so similarly, the entire idea of it being a flyer revolves solely around its mouth. Yeah, not the wings, as no wings have ever been found. And so rather, one study stated that the mouths were so similar to that of living mayflies, which is, by the way, if you didn't know, a flying type of insect, that the Rhino natha must have flyed as well. And therefore, based off of the same logic, it would have also fed primarily on algae and decaying organic matter. So, yeah, even if it did fly, it wasn't that scary or predatorial in any sense of the word. But, again, given the circumstances and the fact that it was the only flying animal that we know from this period, it wins by default. But again, though, since no wings have been identified, it could have easily been that this guy did not fly at all. And other researchers have proposed this as a possibility, regardless of its mouth shape or not. But one thing is very clear, and that is when the Devonian ended, and the Carboniferous began 358 million years ago, there would no longer be any second guessing, as very quickly, aviation took off. No pun intended, with it evolving across multiple families. And the group at the very forefront of this revolution were none other than early insects, who rapidly diversified as the world climate changed, and expansive coal swamps swallowed up the world, essentially turning earth into one big old swamp. And ironically, compared to marine and terrestrial animals that had to wait, flying insects got their golden age almost immediately, as the Carboniferous itself is referred to as the Golden Age of Insects, with a group dominating the ancient land masses and obtaining sizes that dwarf anything seen today. And by the way, through mechanisms that are still not fully understood. And as a result, the deadliest flying insects, the Carboniferous, were unlike its potentially flying predecessors, in the fact that these guys were certainly not smaller than ants, and rather were far larger. In fact, it wasn't even that uncommon for an insect to be a giant, with there being multiple groups in general of large flyers, including the Paleodictioptera, Bojo Phlebiidae, and more.